Spending on Data Analytics to Rise as Marketers Report Benefits in Key Use Cases

May 15, 2023

Spending on data infrastructure and analytics in the US, UK and EU is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 10% from 2022 through 2026, rising from $22 billion in 2022 to $32.4 billion in 2026, according to a report from the Winterberry Group.

In an accompanying survey of just over 200 marketers in the US and Europe (France, Germany, and the UK) at companies with at least $100 million in revenues*, the report reveals that maturity levels are relatively high, though a work in progress. While only 1 in 10 can be classified as “Leaders” – leveraging adaptive and autonomous analytics to monitor, decide and act in an automated or semi-automated manner across marketing analytics use cases- another 38% are in the “Established” bucket, meaning that they leverage prescriptive analytics to recommend the right or optimal decision across marketing analytics use cases.

Interestingly, respondents in Europe are slightly ahead of those in the US on the maturity curve. In a recent study, marketers in the EU were found to be quite far along the maturity curve for data and measurement, while lagging for technology adoption and use. Notably, in the Winterberry Group study, respondents in Europe were more likely than those in the US to say that a lack of marketing analytics technology stack was a challenge they face with marketing analytics resourcing. Additionally, they were less likely than their counterparts in the US to say that their marketing technology stack is fully integrated with the necessary data platforms and applications. This brings to mind another recent study in which US marketers were feeling more confident about their technology use than those in the UK and EU.

Putting those differences aside, the Winterberry Group research indicates that marketers’ use of analytics is contributing to efficiencies. Asking the entire sample how they would describe the impact of using analytics on their audience targeting and segmentation efforts, the report found 78% saying that their targeting and segmentation performance and efficiency have significantly improved as a result of analytics use, compared to 20% saying they haven’t noticeably changed and just 2% reporting a significant regression.

Additionally, 74% said that their creative performance and efficiency has significantly improved as a result of using analytics to create, distribute and optimize assets. Just 21% haven’t noticed any change, and a fraction (4%) feel that their performance and efficiency have regressed as a result of using analytics.

Other Survey Highlights

  • The most-cited challenge faced by US marketers when it comes to marketing analytics resourcing is lack of reliance on data-driven decisions (29% share), while for European marketers it’s a lack of centralized data and analytics function across the organization (31% share).
  • The majority of Leaders (60% share) report that company-wide, they have all the necessary skills that work together in a coordinated fashion to proficiently implement and use marketing analytics.
  • Whereas 70% share of Leaders describe their company’s data quality practices as processes that are well-defined and implemented across the organization, none of the Laggards could claim this.
  • A plurality of respondents in Europe (45% share) and the US (48% share) said that they only rely on 3rd party analytics providers when they have clear gaps.

About the Data: The results are based on a March survey of 204 experienced marketers across the US (58% share), France (12%), Germany (13%), and the UK (17%).

*99% of respondents work at companies with at least $100 million in annual revenues. The remaining 1% work at companies with $50-$100 million in annual revenues.

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