• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, June 11, 2014

Organizational impediments appear to create the biggest challenges as more brands struggle with finding the correct type of data to build online content and targeted campaigns.

So many marketers claim not to have the budget or approvals for the resources they need, per David Edelman, co-leader of McKinsey's global digital marketing strategy group. He explains how brand marketers complain about getting approval or the budget to do several variations of a landing page or quick compliance approvals. "It starts with attitude and leadership, saying we are going to work as a team and try to get these obstacles out of the way," he explains.

It's difficult to get senior management to commit time and money, and  justify a tool or platform when there's no direct return on investment, agreed a panel of experts at the MediaPost Content Marketing Insider Summit Tuesday. Marisa Guerrero, social media specialist at Nautilus, told attendees that in the beginning of many projects her team didn't set benchmarks because they didn't want to underperform or lock the project into a specific ROI. This strategy backfired, she said.

"Now we set benchmarks for everything because otherwise you can't measure success or failure," Guerrero said. "Sometimes you have to fail in order to learn."

From the discussion about content during the panel at the Summit, participants seem to know that finding the correct data isn't just about developing large-scale algorithms, but rather making smart decisions, organizational processes and design, per Edelman. It helps to prioritize the data, get the correct people in the room to work together, so the group can work on a rapid cycle to test and learn.

Edelman said senior managers need to challenge teams to define the company's data strategy like gaining more information about customers or potential customers and use it to drive value. The best data comes directly from consumers who trust the brands with which they share their information.