Despite an increased emphasis on the importance of data in marketing, only 53% of marketing decisions are influenced by data, according to a new survey by Gartner. The consulting firm predicts that 60% of CMOs will cut the size of their analytic departments in half by 2023 due to “failed promised improvements.” Inconsistency and difficulty of access were listed among the top reasons analytics were not used when making decisions. No matter how involved analytics are in decisions, marketing departments don’t always see the returns. Organizations are more likely to agree they are unable to prove marketing's value if analytics were used in fewer than 50% of decisions. On the flipside, if analytics influenced more than 50% of decisions, there are likely diminishing returns for the organization, according to Gartner’s findings. The survey found that one-third of respondents said decision-makers cherry-pick data that supports a decision or opinion they’ve already formed. Cognitive biases were cited as a major barrier to marketing analytics influence. Additionally, when information was provided, it wasn’t always used. Twenty-six percent of respondents said decision-makers did not review the data provided to them, 24% said decision-makers rejected their recommendations and 24% said decision-makers went with their “gut feeling” to make a choice.

Read more here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/gartner-data-analytics-marketing-CMO-cookies/632018/