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Marketers still struggling to act on insights despite marketing attribution being on the rise

The majority of marketers still struggle to act on insights, according to the 2017 State of Marketing Attribution report.

Released by performance marketing platform AdRoll in partnership with Econsultancy, the report says attribution continues to be a top priority for marketers, with the ability to define the online customer journey cited as the most significant barrier to more effective usage.

“Attribution continues to be one of the hottest topics in the industry for a reason: it has huge consequences, such as lost revenue and wasted ad budget, if not done properly,” said Shane Murphy, AdRoll vice-president of marketing. “The State of Marketing Attribution report gives a sense of how marketers are dealing with this challenging topic. Marketers are being held to higher standards of measurement and accountability than ever before, and attribution models have the ability to show the true impact our discipline has on the bottom line of a business.”

The report is based on a survey of nearly 1,000 brand marketers and agencies across Asia-Pacific, North America, Japan and Europe.

When asked about primary motivations of attribution, 70 per cent of company respondents said better allocation of budget across channels was the number one benefit, followed by 64 per cent citing a better understanding of how digital channels work together. With the added visibility into where marketing dollars are performing across specific channels, 32 per cent have increased their spend on digital marketing channels.

Some of the biggest attribution challenges facing marketers are defining the customer journey (35 per cent) and attracting staff with the right skills (77 per cent), while creating a culture of measurement and accuracy is more difficult for brand direct marketers (80 per cent) than agencies (71 per cent).

“There’s increased recognition of the role marketing attribution can play in helping companies to maximise their business outcomes, but knowledge and confidence surrounding the use of various methods could prove to be a stumbling block,” said Monica Savut, Econsultancy’s head of commercial research services. “This year’s research shows that companies need to take a more holistic and nuanced approach to attribution, constantly adjusting and refining until the correct balance is achieved.”

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