Data analytics is becoming a critical activity for content marketers in the digital age, but three-quarters of these marketers have admitted that they are now feeling more “overwhelmed” than empowered when trying to make sense of big data to inform decisions and content creation.
Callcredit Information Group canvassed the opinions of more than 150 senior marketers across the UK and found that while four out of five are now spending more time analysing data, 71 per cent believe that they are struggling to cope with the sheer scale of data available to them.
A further 70 per cent recognise that data is a valuable asset for effective marketing campaigns but believe that their organisations are not currently exploiting its full potential. One reason for this could be the fact that just three in ten are confident that they have the appropriate skill set to analyse data, while 44 per cent reveal that they are planning to undertake further training in the near future to improve their ability to make use of relevant information.
The report follows Facebook’s recent admission that it overstated video views on the platform by up to 80 per cent. Callcredit Information Group’s managing director of marketing solutions, Steve McNicholas, said that the report’s findings and Facebook’s revelation show a growing need for marketers to address knowledge gaps.
“The next step for marketers is to implement a number of processes, tools and ways of working that can improve the quality, not just the quantity of their data and bring clarity to complexity,” McNicholas said. “More businesses need to find their ‘sweet spot’ of data that helps define customer segments and acquire new, more profitable ones. An external perspective can often help companies bring the right amount of insight and creativity to the process.”
Content marketers are currently spending more than five and a half hours on average each week sifting through data sets in order to optimise their strategies and inform decisions, but almost a third believe that more can be done and that they are not devoting enough time to analysing their data. This is a viewpoint shared by ID Comms’ chief strategy officer, Tom Denford, who said that marketers need to improve their knowledge to drive value and control costs.
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