• by Ray Schultz , May 1, 2020

Almost all marketers say they are succeeding with their use of data despite critical challenges in getting there -- including driving loyalty, according to Using Marketing Data To Make Better Decisions, a study by Ascend2.

Of the firms polled, 31% say they are very successful, or best in class, while 63% say they are somewhat successful and 6% deem themselves unsuccessful.

As data drives successful marketing via email, and every channel, the study offers a snapshot of current trends.

For example, 25% always use data in the decision-making process, and 44% study it 44% of the time. In contrast, 26% use data for this purpose some of the time, and 5% never.

Moreover, most brands almost half of all brands are budgeting more or data, 13% significantly and 35% moderately. Another 37% are maintaining their spend level, and 15% are decreasing it, only 3% by large margins.

But different types have varying value. Here are the types of data deemed most helpful when making marketing decisions: 

• Engagement — 47%
• Customer retention rate — 46%
• Conversion rates — 45%
• Customer lifetime value — 40% 
• Customer acquisition cost — 33%
• Multi-touch attribution — 17% 
• Funnel/pipeline — 16%

What do marketers hope to get out of data use? Their primary objectives are: 

• Increasing customer loyalty — 46%
• Increasing conversion rates — 43%
• Optimizing customer journey — 42%
• Increasing content engagement — 35% 
• Defining appropriate channels — 28%
• Eliminating ad waste — 21% 
• Integrating disparate data — 16%
• Improving multi-touch attribution — 11%

Those goals are mostly in sync with the critical challenges marketers face:

• Increasing customer loyalty — 42%
• Increasing conversion rates — 39%
• Increasing content engagement — 35%
• Optimizing customer journey — 29%
• Defining appropriate channels — 26%
• Integrating disparate channels — 26%
• Eliminating ad waste — 25% 
• Improving multi-touch attribution — 19% 

What do brands see a critical data trends for the year ahead? (Note: This study was done on April 6 during the height of the COVID-19 crisis0. They cite:

• Data-driven personalization — 47%
• Customer journey — 46%
• Predictive analytics — 38%
• Aligning online and offline data — 33%
• Omnichannel marketing — 21 
• AI/machine learning — 21% 
• Programmatic advertising — 20%

Ascemd2 and its Research Partners surveyed 277 marketers. Of those, 38% were B2B, 39% B2C and 23% both equally.