Nearly two-thirds of UK brands are ‘under-utilising’ their data and limiting its effectiveness by focusing on general analysis activations as opposed to more ‘sophisticated’ techniques.
A study conducted by digital marketing consultancy Making Science, found that only 39% of brands are using advanced measurement solutions to attain insights from their data.
While the majority of brands are activating their data, a small amount of marketers (5%) are not activating their data at all.
Of the three sectors analysed by Making Science – retail and eCommerce, financial services, and travel – UK retail is falling the most short in its data practices.
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“Surprisingly, retail and eCommerce respondents are less likely (7%) to gather both on- or -off line data, compared to only 1% of financial and travel respondents,” Making Science added.
“Retail brands are also less likely to validate the quality of their data, with one in eight failing to do so. This is significantly higher than both financial (1%) and travel (2%).”
With regards to data activation, 12% of retail respondents surveyed stated that they did not activate their data at all, while between 3-4% of both financial and travel services have not invested in data automation.
Taking into consideration that over half (55%) of all marketers spoken to by Making Science stated that they aim to gain new clients as a result of data activation, these findings highlight a ‘surprising’ wastage of efforts.
“The number of brands investing in data collection with the aim to grow their business and enhance current services, yet failing to fully complete the final stage of activation, where the benefits of their efforts are rewarded, was particularly surprising to us,” Making Science first-party data director, Kevin Daly, said.
“The majority of brands are failing to use advanced measurement solutions to activate their data to its full potential. It is clear that there is currently a lack of understanding or resources to complete the most important stage in the data journey: activation.”
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