In Part 1 of this “analytics hurdles” topic, we explored the 5 biggest obstacles facing marketers when it comes to collecting and using marketing data: poor quality data, inability to manage data, getting lost in data, trusting instinct over data, and shallow and vague customer data.

All is not lost. There are solutions to what we see as the 3 key concerns keeping marketers up at night. They are:

1. Analytics Don’t Match a Marketer’s Personal Bias

It’s inevitable, particularly with old-school marketers used to doing things the way they’ve always been done, to want to bet your money on the horse that brought you here. “TV has always worked, so let’s stick to it.” But what if the numbers – the data – show paid social media ads are winning.

This is where unbiased data presented by an impartial third party is vital. There’s a good chance several marketing channels are working together to push consumers through the sales funnel and out the bottom as a conversion. Multi-touch attribution data will show the customer’s path to purchase.

Bias must be set aside, and the insights from the factual data must be trusted. Imagine knowing what is and is not working and adjusting ad spend accordingly or, pray tell, showing the executive team less was spent to get more.

2. Data Quality is Insufficient and/or Untrustworthy

Just as bias needs to be pushed out of the marketer’s mindset, impartiality must be the north star of any marketing data that is collected. LeadsRx provides marketers a pixel to collect first-party data via their website, and it ingests data from ALL touchpoints – online and offline.

That’s impartial data. It is as true as it can get. Yes, that marketer will need to keep their Google and Facebook pixels to gather that walled-garden data and add it to the mix, but the user now has a holistic view of their marketing efforts.

When the marketer adds in company revenue data, a complete picture forms and an impartial, true view of return on ad spend (ROAS) can be determined.

3. Inability to Make Sense of the Data and Results

This is a bit trickier, but certainly solvable. Whether it’s an educational gap in the marketer’s skillset or an issue of not being able to visualize the data in a meaningful way, there are solutions.

Training could solve the skills gap issue or hiring a team member that “gets it.” Certainly, a solid vendor partner can help in this regard, especially if resources are tight. Sometimes a cultural shift is needed to move from that fallback of gut instinct (“we don’t need data, I know what is working”), to a culture of trusting the impartial data and insights drawn from it.

Hiring the right person – or vendor – could also solve the “making sense of the data” challenge. As stated in Part 1 of this “analytics hurdles” conundrum, there are several data visualization vendors out there with tools for taking multi-touch attribution data and putting it into a relatable, CMO-level presentation. And that presentation is easily digestible by a CEO, CFO, and/or board of directors.

Even the vendors proficient at telling stories with data – NinjaCat, TapClicks, Tableau, Domo – are quick to point out that lots of data is great, and putting it into a usable report is even better, but it is not a cure-all for marketing ails. This NinjaCat blog post on “Marketing Reporting Software: Myths Vs Reality” does a great job dispelling myths, such as “Marketing reporting software will solve all my marketing problems.”

Marketers have access to a toolbox of solutions that should be used together, or as so eloquently put in the blog above: “The marketing technology landscape works in dynamic and symbiotic ways, with vendors and clients iterating on new ways to execute and measure campaigns that drive the industry forward.”

The Proof is in the Data

We are firm believers that impartial data can and does point to the truth – in campaign effectiveness, optimization in ad spend, and the Valhalla of KPIs: ROAS. Armed with accurate, unbiased data, marketers can improve customer outreach and boost the bottom and top lines of their businesses.