Most marketers are satisfied with their data dashboards. But attribution remains a challenge for almost half, according to Visualizing Marketing Data with Dashboards, a study by Ascend2 and its
Research Partners.
Email marketers using dashboards are confronted by the same opportunities and challenges.
Of the executives polled, 43% say their dashboard strategies are very
successful, and 54% report they are somewhat so. Only 3% are experiencing failure.
Dashboard budgets are rising moderately for 70% of those surveyed, and 14% will post major hikes. Only
13% are expecting moderate decreases, and 3% plan significant cutbacks.
The main priority for 55% is improving their marketing decision-making. But 35% see that as a challenge.
Second
is improving their dashboard — 49% cite this priority, but 42% see it as a challenge.
The biggest challenge, indicated by 49%, is attributing revenue to marketing efforts. At the
same time, 43% view that as an objective.
In addition, 44% hope to improve the usefulness of marketing data, while 39% call that a challenge.
Of those polled, 59% use a combination of
outsourced and in-house resources, while 28% keep everything in-house. Another 13% outsource everything to specialists.
Here are the important questions marketers are asking about dashboard
designs:
- What are the right metrics? — 54%
- How will the data be used? —51%
- What data is being visualized? — 45%
- How is data
prioritized? — 44%
- Who is seeing the data? — 38%
- Is the data engaging/compelling? — 27%
- Will colors aid analysis? — 11%
The
key performance indicators include:
- Marketing ROI — 56%
- Cost-per conversion — 46%
- Campaign performance — 45%
- Revenue per month —
38%
- Conversion funnel — 32%
- Web traffic source — 29%
- Social engagement — 24%
Ascend2 and its research partners surveyed 307
marketing influencers.