As a marketer, you’re busy. We get it. You have a lot of priorities to juggle: • How many leads are you bringing in? • Which channels are providing the most leads? • Is your budget running low? • How are leads converting down the funnel? • How can you get the most accurate measure of ROI? At every turn, you need data—and lots of it. But in the past decade alone, marketers’ trouble with data has gone through a dramatic shift: instead of being too difficult to obtain, data is now too difficult to maintain. In fact, IBM reports that 71% of CMOs feel unprepared to handle today’s “data explosion,” saying that “most CMOs are struggling in one vital respect—providing the numbers that demonstrate a return on investment (ROI) for marketing.” This survey report reveals marketers’ troubles and successes with data, and it reveals important trends that are defining the data-driven marketer.

1. As a marketer, you’re busy. We get it.
You have a lot of priorities to juggle:
• How many leads are you bringing in?
• Which channels are providing the most leads?
• Is your budget running low?
• How are leads converting down the funnel?
• How can you get the most accurate measure of ROI?
At every turn, you need data—and lots of it. But in the
past decade alone, marketers’ trouble with data has
gone through a dramatic shift: instead of being too
In fact, Forrester Research reports that 49% of marketers
cite the use of analytics to guide marketing decisions as
the biggest weakness of their marketing organization.
This survey report reveals marketers’ troubles and
successes with data, and it reveals important trends that
How We Did It…
Our survey sample included 301 respondents.
You can read more about our methodology at the
end of the report, or click here to read it now.
DATA-DRIVEN
MARKETING SURVEY
*Results based on Q4 2013 survey data.

2. RELATIONSHIP
WITH DATA
Marketers’ impressions of how data applies to their daily routine

3. MARKETERS GIVE THEMSELVES
A PASSING GRADE.
When asked to grade their relationship
with data, marketers averaged a

4. DESPITE GRADING THEIR
RELATIONSHIP WITH DATA AS A B-,
PARTICIPANTS ARE STILL CONFIDENT
IN THEIR GENERAL MARKETING ABILITIES.
Here’s how participants responded to the statement,
“I’m confident in my abilities as a marketer”:
44%STRONGLY AGREE
46%AGREE
8%DISAGREE
2%STRONGLY DISAGREE

5. MARKETERS THINK THEIR CEOS
ARE CONFIDENT IN THEIR ABILITIES.
Here’s how participants responded to the statement,
“My CEO is confident in my abilities as a marketer”:
35%STRONGLY AGREE
54%AGREE
11%DISAGREE
0%STRONGLY DISAGREE

6. ALMOST TWO THIRDS OF MARKETERS
ARE OVERWHELMED BY THE AMOUNT
OF DATA THAT’S AVAILABLE FOR ANALYSIS.
Here’s how participants responded to the statement, “I am able to
handle the volume of marketing data that’s available for analysis
without feeling overwhelmed”:
6%STRONGLY AGREE
28%AGREE
48%DISAGREE
18%STRONGLY DISAGREE

7. MOST MARKETING DATA SOURCES
AREN’T CHECKED DAILY.
Of the participants that report checking the following data sources,
here’s the percent that report checking them daily:
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Business Intelligence Solutions 33.33%
CRM 26.40%
Marketing Automation 25.45%
Social Media 23.95%
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising 23.47%
Other 20.00%
Affiliate Marketing 15.79%
Web Analytics 14.38%
Corporate Blog 14.13%
Banner Advertising 11.76%
Email Marketing 9.47%
Surveys 5.69%
Webinar Platforms 5.19%
Video 3.88%

8. ACCESS TO DATA
How well marketers can access the data they use to make decisions

9. 69% of participants agreed
they would consume more
marketing data if they “had
more time to analyze the
data.”
66% of participants agreed
they would consume more
marketing data if they “could
see it all in one place.”
44% of marketers agreed
they would consume more
marketing data if they
“had more time to collect
the data.”
40% of marketers agreed
they would consume more
marketing data if they “could
see it on any device.”
40% of marketers agreed
they would consume more
marketing data if they
“could see it in real time.”
TOP 5 REASONS MARKETERS
AREN’T CONSUMING MORE DATA

10. MARKETERS RELY ON DATA TO DO
THEIR JOBS WELL—BUT THEY HAVE A
HARD TIME GETTING THE DATA THEY NEED.
Here’s how participants replied to
the statement, “I rely on marketing
data to do my job well”:
Here’s how participants replied to
the statement, “I have access to the
marketing data I need”:
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
28%
59%
11%
3%
7%
38%
46%
9%

11. MARKETERS FEEL THAT IT’S IMPORTANT
TO HAVE ACCESS TO REAL-TIME MARKETING
DATA—BUT THEY AREN’T GETTING IT.
Here’s how participants replied to the
statement, “It is important to have
access to real-time marketing data”:
Here’s how participants replied to
the statement, “I can access the
marketing data I need in real time”:
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
26%
57%
15%
2%
5%
32%
50%
13%

12. MANY MARKETING REPORTS LACK
KEY INFORMATION—INCLUDING ROI.
agreed with the statement,
“The marketing reports I
receive lack key information.”
Of those lacking key information,
40% state that ROI is one
of the missing pieces.

13. MARKETERS ARE MISSING A WIDE ARRAY
OF INFORMATION IN THEIR REPORTS.
When asked what information was missing from their reports, marketers
provided their own written feedback. Here are the top responses:
ROIREAL-TIME DATA
NEED MORE DETAILS CONSISTENCY
SALES INFO
LEAD FUNNEL
CONVERSION RATES
DEEPER ANALYSIS
CUSTOMER DATA
CAMPAIGN-SPECIFIC
RESULTS
CLOSED LOOP
MARKETING INFO
MARKETING
CONTRIBUTION
TO SALES
REVENUE FROM
MARKETING ACTIVITIES
DETAILS ON SEGMENT
PERFORMANCE
INCREMENTAL VOLUME
A/B TESTING RESULTS

14. MARKETERS WANT THE FREEDOM
TO ACCESS DATA ON ANY DEVICE
THEY’RE USING.
Here’s how participants responded
to the statement, “It is important
to have access to marketing
data on all my devices (e.g.,
computer, tablet, phone)”:
STRONGLY DISAGREE:
3.5%
AGREE:
44.22%
STRONGLY AGREE:
23.11%
DISAGREE:
29.14%

15. MARKETERS WANT TO CONSUME
DATA ON MOBILE DEVICES MORE
OFTEN THAN THEY CURRENTLY DO.
Here’s the comparison between the percent of time participants
currently consume data on the following devices, and the percent
of time they would ideally consume data on those same devices:
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
83% CURRENTLY
66% IDEALLY
7% CURRENTLY
20% IDEALLY
10% CURRENTLY
14% IDEALLYSMARTPHONE
TABLET
DESKTOP/LAPTOP

16. MARKETERS FEEL THAT IT’S IMPORTANT TO
HAVE THEIR DATA IN A SINGLE DASHBOARD—
BUT MOST ARE OPERATING WITHOUT ONE.
Here’s how participants replied to the
statement, “It is important to see
marketing data from all our disparate
sources in a single dashboard”:
Here’s how participants replied to the
statement, “I can see marketing data
from all our disparate data sources in
a single dashboard”:
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
31%
58%
10%
1%
5%
14%
56%
25%

17. MARKETERS ARE REGULARLY
FRUSTRATED BY HOW LONG IT TAKES
TO CREATE MARKETING REPORTS.
Here’s how participants responded to the statement,
“I get frustrated by how long it takes to report on marketing data”:
10%STRONGLY AGREE
52%AGREE
33%DISAGREE
5%STRONGLY DISAGREE

18. MARKETERS ARE OFTEN FRUSTRATED
BY HOW LONG IT TAKES TO RECEIVE
MARKETING REPORTS.
Here’s how participants responded to the statement, “I get frustrated
by how long it takes to receive reports on marketing data”:
7%STRONGLY AGREE
52%AGREE
35%DISAGREE
6%STRONGLY DISAGREE

19. EMAIL IS THE #1 METHOD FOR
SHARING MARKETING DATA.
Here’s how participants responded
to the statement, “I report
marketing results through…”:
EMAIL• In-Person Meetings: 72.92%
• Spreadsheets: 66.67%
• PowerPoint Presentations: 62.5%
• Printed Reports: 58.33%
• A Dashboard: 29.17%
• Other: 4.17%
• Don’t Report Marketing Results:
4.17%
83.33%

20. RETURN
ON INVESTMENT
What marketers are doing—and what they wish they could do—
to measure the effectiveness of their marketing activities

21. AT EVERY LEVEL OF THE ORGANIZATION,
MARKETERS ARE UNDER MORE PRESSURE
TO TIE NUMBERS TO THEIR EFFORTS.
Here’s how participants responded to the statement,
“My boss expects me to provide data-driven results”:
AGREE » 47.92%
DISAGREE » 12.5%STRONGLY DISAGREE » 4.17%
STRONGLY AGREE » 35.42%

22. MARKETERS STILL STRUGGLE WITH
CALCULATING ROI ON COMMON
MARKETING TACTICS.
Here’s how participants responded to the statement, “Our team
knows the return on investment (ROI) for the following tactics”:
EMAIL MARKETING ·················
BANNER ADS ····························
LIVE EVENTS ······························
SEO··············································
SOCIAL MEDIA···························
72%
54%
51%
51%
37%
28%
46%
49%
49%
63%
Know ROI Don’t Know ROI

23. THE MAJORITY OF MARKETERS
ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ROI—
BUT NEARLY HALF CANNOT MEASURE IT.
82% are held accountable for ROI on marketing spend—
but only 33% have access to marketing contribution to revenue.
That puts 49%of marketers in a pretty tough spot.
Are held accountable
Have access to marketing contribution revenue
82%
33%

24. 44% OF EXECUTIVES CANNOT EASILY
ACCESS MARKETING’S CONTRIBUTION
TO SALES REVENUE.
Here is how executives responded to the statement, “Our team
can easily access sales revenue from marketing activities”:
10%STRONGLY AGREE
46%AGREE
23%DISAGREE
21%STRONGLY DISAGREE

25. ROI FACTORS INTO THE
COMPENSATION OF THE MAJORITY
OF MARKETING EXECUTIVES.
Here’s how executives responded to the statement,
“I am compensated by marketing ROI”:
4%FULLY
50%PARTIALLY
46%NOT AT ALL

26. 3 OUT OF 4 MARKETING EXECUTIVES
ARE UNABLE TO CALCULATE
SOCIAL MEDIA ROI.
Here’s how executives responded to the statement,
“Our team knows the return on investment for social media”:
14.71% Strongly Disagree
61.76% Disagree
14.71% Agree
8.82% Strongly Agree

27. CONCLUSION

28. THIS REPORT REVEALS TWO IMPORTANT
ASPECTS OF MARKETERS’ DAILY LIVES:
THEY KNOW THEY NEED DATA, AND THEY
OFTEN CAN’T GET IT.
IT’S AN UPHILL BATTLE AND THEY’RE
FIGHTING A GOOD FIGHT—ALL THINGS
CONSIDERED. BUT WITH MORE ACCESS TO
THE RIGHT DATA, THEY COULD DO BETTER.
SPONSORED BY DOMO
Domo connects to any source of data and brings it into an intuitive
dashboard. This helps marketers get the right information at the right
time, and make better data-driven decisions. To learn more, visit
www.domo.com.

29. ABOUT
THE SURVEY
The participants, their roles and select characteristics

30. SURVEY PARTICIPANTS
We surveyed a spectrum of marketing professionals.
The total number of participants was

31. TITLES AND ROLES
At all levels of a marketing organization, marketers deal with data.
Participants in this survey cover the full spectrum of marketers, so the
responses reflect strengths and weaknesses at all levels.
34%DIRECTORS
19%VP/SVP/EVPMANAGERS
23% 8%ASSOCIATE
6%CONSULTANT
6%OTHER
5%CMO
34%DIRECTORS
19%VP/SVP/EVPMANAGERS
23% 8%ASSOCIATE
6%CONSULTANT
6%OTHER
5%CMO

32. POPULAR TECHNOLOGIES
Here are the most popular marketing
technologies by percentage adoption:
83%
74%
68%
55% 54%
52%
46%
42%
40%
36%
25%
18%
16%
5%
EMAIL
MARKETING
SOCIAL
MEDIA
WEB
ANALYTICS
CRM
SURVEYS
BANNER
ADVERTISING
VIDEO
PPC
CORPORATE
BLOG
WEBINAR
PLATFORMS
MARKETING
AUTOMATION
BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE
AFFILIATE
MARKETING
OTHER
10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

33. COMMON WATERING HOLES
Here are the most popular sources for industry information, listed by
percentage of marketers that use them:
Top Websites: LinkedIn, MECLABS, MarketingProfs
Top Newsletters: HubSpot, MarketingProfs, SmartBrief
Top Blogs: MarketingProfs, Mashable, Content Marketing Institute
Top Associations: AMA, DMA, WMA
Top Events: AMA, Dreamforce, Marketo User Conference
Websites Newsletters Blogs Associations Events
92%
77%
67%
58% 52%