Data-driven marketing is linked to improved sales performance and market share, ITSMA research shows

May 10, 2011 - PRLog -- Data-savvy marketing organizations have shorter sales cycles, lower sales costs, and greater improvements in market share. These are the findings of a joint ITSMA and Patricia Seybold Group survey to understand how B2B marketers in professional services, technology, and telecommunications companies are using marketing data to make marketing and business decisions.

ITSMA defines data-savvy organizations as those who share three important characteristics:
•  A culture that places importance on making decisions based on data and analysis,
•  Formalized data collection processes and clear expectations, and
•  Leading edge or above average data usage to support marketing activities.

The survey showed that while B2B services marketers recognized that data-driven marketing is important, very few considered themselves as leading-edge users of marketing data. Furthermore, only a handful of senior executives are relying on marketing data to make decisions.

“If you have a data-driven marketing organization, you will see business benefits,” says Julie Schwartz, senior vice president of research and thought leadership for ITSMA. “But becoming data driven isn’t easy and it takes time.”

The key traits differentiating data-savvy marketing organizations from other organizations are:
•  Time and experience with data collection and analysis,
•  A marketing technology strategy,
•  Data governance,
•  Dedicated analytics resources, and
•  Organizational outreach, resulting in non-marketing executives having greater confidence in the data.

The survey respondents—107 marketers at 71 companies—were asked questions about how they use data to report performance, inform decisions, predict buyer behavior, and forecast trends.

Schwartz and Sue McKittrick, Analyst and Principal Consultant at Patricia Seybold Group, will be presenting highlights from the survey during ITSMA's Online Member Briefing, Marketing Metrics to Business Metrics: Taking the Leap, May 17, 2011, at 8:00 a.m. PT, 11:00 a.m. ET, 16:00 London time. Visit http://www.itsma.com/events/marketing-metrics-to-business... for information on this briefing.

In addition, Schwartz will talk about the Data Driven Organization at ITSMA’s 10th Marketing Leadership Forum in Chicago on May 24, 2011. Visit http://www.itsma.com/events/marketing-leadership-forum-2011/ for details on this event.

Methodology
ITSMA conducted an online Web-based survey with 107 representatives from 71 companies, and 17 follow-up 30-minute qualitative phone interviews. ITSMA analyzed the data by company type, annual revenue, and degree of data usage and maturity. The majority of respondents were from five industries:
•  Telecommunications Services,
•  Network Systems and Solutions,
•  Computer Systems and Solutions,
•  Software Solutions, and
•  Professional Services.

For more information on the survey, please see http://www.itsma.com/research/data-driven-survey-2011/ or contact Julie Schwartz at jschwartz@itsma.com, or at +1-781-862-8500, Ext. 112.

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ITSMA provides research, consulting, and training to the world’s leading technology, communications, and professional services providers. Visit http://www.itsma.com/ for more information.