Is the novelty of programmatic
wearing off? The topic still piques the interest of buyers, sellers and everyone in between -- but some of that rose-colored tint could be fading.
A recent report from the Winterberry Group
and Direct Marketing Association (DMA) notes that enthusiasm about the future of data-driven marketing is at its lowest point in two years.
One a scale of 1-to-5, with 5 indicating a
“strong” level of confidence in the future of data-driven marketing, the average response gathered by Winterberry was 3.87. This is still high, but it is the lowest average response number
that Winterberry has recorded since first-quarter 2013 (3.76).
This diminished confidence has not impacted data-driven spending -- quite the contrary -- but it’s worth noting nonetheless. Could it be
the start of a trend?
Perhaps it’s because viewability
rates are floundering, or because fraud concerns have persisted. It could be because murky definitions on central terms such as “premium” and “programmatic” linger. Maybe it’s simply because programmatic is not
the new kid on the block anymore.
Winterberry theorizes that it could reflect “broader anxieties about the economy amidst lackluster early-year growth forecasts.”
Marketers are also starting to encounter the difficulties of juggling technology. Winterberry notes that “a majority of panelists agreed that it’s been difficult to prove
value from new platforms and integrating new and existing tools has been a challenge.”
In any event, we’ll have to wait for the next Winterberry-DMA report to see if this
confidence slip indicates a trend, or whether it will simply be an outlier. After all, according to Winterberry’s chart, enthusiasm surrounding data-driven marketing tends to dip during the
first quarter before rising in the second.
Winterberry conducted an online survey of 239 DMA members for the report in April 2015. Respondents included 166 marketers and 127 marketing services (including agency services) and technology providers.