• by Melynda Fuller , November 19, 2018

Lotame, a data solutions company that recently launched its own data management service, released the results of a study examining how publishers and marketers use data collection to their advantage.

The study polled 300 senior level executives in media and marketing and found that 80% would outsource data strategy and execution, due to a lack of resources, while 69% reported their organization collects audience data. Among those that do collect data, 78% reported they have an in-house managed service to address related needs and execution.

However, the remaining 31% of organizations that don’t collect data have a number of reasons.

The first being lack of resources. This comes, in part, because 30% of those polled find executing an effective strategy to be cumbersome. Also, almost 25% aren’t certain how to optimize the data they have and don’t have the tools or technology necessary.

Jason Downie, Chief Strategy Officer at Lotame, stated: “For all these organizations, data strategy development, management and execution require sizable investments in talent and technology – and many simply don’t have the in-house capabilities or infrastructure.”

One-third of those polled sell the data they collect to create new streams of revenue, which could signal a boost for publishers. But publishers are also using data to leverage their reach in other ways. 

In fact, 56% of publishers polled said they measured the success of their strategy by seeing an increase in returning visitors, new numbers of unique views and higher page views. Following that rubric, 49% said they measured success with “optimization of ad inventory,” 38% measured through “overall ROI and monetization opportunities” and 33% measured through an “increase in winning non-endemic advertisers.”

Downie noted these practices go hand in hand with the need for publishers to drive traffic and audience growth to increase the “effect on their ad success and the value they can claim for partners.”

Lotame partnered with Tribune Publishing in October, signing the publisher as its first customer following the launch of its data management service.