Experts Discuss Why Marketers Must Leverage First- and Third-Party
Data to Avoid Digital Pitfalls at Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo,
Taking Place April 29-May 1, in San Diego

SAN DIEGO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/GartnerMKTG?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#GartnerMKTGlt;/agt;–Data is the great enabler for marketing effectiveness, but only 29% of
marketers report they are actively participating in advance analytics
modeling, according to research from Gartner, Inc.

Gartner experts are examining the importance of advanced
analytics for marketers at Gartner
Marketing Symposium/Xpo, which is taking place here through
Wednesday.

“Marketers either don’t know the data they have or don’t know what to do
with it. In fact, 40% are ‘exploring’ while a third are building their
reporting,” said Mike Froggatt, director at Gartner. “As a result,
brands struggle with adapting to a data-driven mindset that can
influence marketing strategy.”

Gartner research shows that more than eight out of 10 marketers
anticipate making their marketing decisions based on analytics within
the next year, making it imperative for them to maintain or surpass
their peers.

“Brands already have the data, like pieces of a puzzle, most just need
to better understand how to leverage that data to drive decision making
and guide their digital strategies,” added Mr. Froggatt.

Based on more than 1,250 data points from four main digital pillars —
site and commerce, social media, mobile and digital marketing — Gartner
found three digital channels primed for disruption via data-driven
strategies with brand-owned or easily accessible third-party data.

Search: Activate Brand Assets to Boost ROI

Gartner
research reveals that search is responsible for six out of 10
desktop visits to brand sites, with more than half via organic search
and only 7% coming from paid placements. “Brands need to ask themselves
if they are 100% certain that they own their organic results associated
with their brand,” Mr. Froggatt said. “Now is the time to double check.”

Leading brands are building out their organic search advantage by
following three key steps: 1) claiming ownership of the knowledge panel
via a verified account, 2) controlling interaction of store profile
features via Google Maps, and 3) leverage search data to closely monitor
consumer trends.

“The key to optimizing your search results is to think of Google as an
ecosystem and to proactively manage your exposure and dependence,” added
Mr. Froggatt.

Site: Driving Digital Utility with Loyalty

A brand’s website is one of the largest investments for marketing teams
today. From facilitating transactions, to capturing the data to help
create “customer identity” profiles, the data
derived from a brand’s website is imperative for both marketing and
strategic corporate decision making.

“The golden rule with collecting data on site is to use it to meet
consumer expectations. Recently, we’ve seen a lot of leading brands
leverage this data to launch loyalty programs,” said Mr. Froggatt.
“Loyalty adoption is trending upward, as more brands seek to extend
customer lifetime value and see their impact on the bottom line.”
Gartner research into department stores, specialty retail and activewear
sectors show nearly 50% have established a loyalty program.

Online Retailers: Making Retail Partners Work for You

Brands across most sectors, especially consumer packaged goods (CPG),
have almost entirely ceded paid search to retailers. Gartner research
shows that big box retailers lead the way by leveraging
personalization.

Another area leading brands optimize their retail partners based on data
is with fulfillment. Gartner research shows that brands are modifying
packaging to optimize both shelf space and shipping while also utilizing
omnichannel aspects such as “pick up in store.”

“Fulfillment details like this represent an opportunity for brands to
co-market and optimize their channel strategies, online and offline,
ship and pick up,” added Mr. Froggatt. “As a brand providing the
product, marketers can push the retailers to share that data, and focus
their marketing (and product design) to reinforce that profitability.”

Additional details will be provided during the “Leveraging First- and
Third-Party Data to Avoid Digital Pitfalls” session at the Gartner
Marketing Symposium/Xpo in San Diego on May 1, 2019. Gartner for
Marketers clients can access relevant research and insights in the
reports “Gartner
L2 Intelligence Report: Search 2019,” “Gartner
L2 Intelligence Report: Data & Targeting 2018” and “Gartner
L2 Intelligence Report: Retailers & Marketplaces 2018.”

About the Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo

Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo provides marketing leaders actionable
advice about the trends, tools and emerging technologies they need to
deliver business results. Gartner
for Marketers analysts address the biggest opportunities, challenges
and priorities marketers face today, including data and analytics,
customer experience, content marketing, customer insight, marketing
technology (martech) and multichannel marketing. Additional information
is available at www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/marketing-symposium-us.
Follow news and updates for the event on Twitter at #GartnerMKTG.

About Gartner for Marketers

Gartner for Marketers provides the objective, expert advice and proven
tools CMOs and other marketing leaders need to seize the right
opportunities with clarity and confidence, and stay ahead of the trends
that matter. With in-depth research and analysis, Gartner for Marketers
helps you focus on the opportunities with the greatest potential to
deliver results. More information on Gartner for Marketers is available
online at www.Gartner.com/marketing/.

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT), is the world’s leading research and advisory
company and a member of the S&P 500. We equip business leaders with
indispensable insights, advice and tools to achieve their
mission-critical priorities today and build the successful organizations
of tomorrow.

Our unmatched combination of expert-led, practitioner-sourced and
data-driven research steers clients toward the right decisions on the
issues that matter most. We are a trusted advisor and objective resource
for more than 15,000 organizations in more than 100 countries — across
all major functions, in every industry and enterprise size. To learn
more about how we help decision makers fuel the future of business,
visit gartner.com.

Contacts

Kelly Blum
571-303-5745
[email protected]