Marketing experts say data analytics was a good bet

Industry analysts and market experts alike have predicted data would play a central role in mobile marketing during 2019. In an effort to better understand its impact, YouAppi has reached out to more than 540 of the world’s top in-house and agency marketers to find out how critical data has become for the brands they represent. A full 98 percent of respondents said they have increased their organizational investment in data, spending that has been substantial from both brand and performance marketers alike. These investments are proving worthwhile, as 97 percent of all marketers have seen improvement, more than half of those calling improvements ‘significant.’

Areas of investment include reporting and dashboard technology (81 percent), in-house data analytics teams (64 percent), purchasing 3rd party performance data (47 percent), adding more data-centric roles on internal teams (46 percent) and hiring outside agencies for data analysis (24 percent).

The Impact of Data on Marketing Duties

In addition to increased spending, 96 percent of marketers say their job duties have also required a larger focus on data, with 57 percent categorizing that increase as significant. Though every level of the marketing team has been impacted by the role of data, executives have seen the largest change, with 62 percent citing a dramatic increase in their focus on data and metrics.

This increased reliance on data is also creating the need to develop new skills. Ninety-six percent of all respondents agreed that brand marketers would benefit from adopting the data expertise of performance marketers, and 91 percent said performance marketers need to adopt the positioning and creative expertise of brand marketers.

“It’s fantastic to see more organizations take advantage of the skills and expertise that performance and brand marketers bring to the table, and create an environment where these two disciplines can better complement one another,” said Moshe Vaknin, founder, and CEO of YouAppi. “As marketers continue to invest in more sophisticated data analytics, and find creative ways to make that data actionable, they will see measurable results that connect them in powerful ways to their end customers.”

A Rosy Outlook

The majority of marketers feel confident in their own job security, with 64 percent citing zero concerns about the impact on their employment. Over the last two years, the bulk of hiring has happened at the performance marketer level (46 percent), while an additional 32 percent of respondents say their companies are hiring both brand and performance marketers at equal rates.

What’s more, marketers anticipate ongoing investment in marketing efforts throughout 2019, with 91 percent of performance marketing teams and 54 percent of brand marketing teams anticipating additional budgets and expenditures in their departments.

The survey included 543 mobile marketers from around the globe, all of whom had responsibility for brand and/or performance marketing either in-house, with an agency or at a marketing technology provider. For the purposes of the survey performance marketing was defined as marketing with clearly measurable goals or actions such as driving clicks, installs, or post-install events; brand marketing was defined as marketing focused on reaching audiences through relationship building, storytelling, and creative with actions that are less precise to measure.