72% of marketers consider data analysis to be the most important skill for their organisation to acquire over the next two years.
That’s according to the new report from international marketing technology brand BlueVenn: Customer data: The monster under the bed?
The report, which incorporates research from over 200 UK and US marketers, reveals the skills and attributes that marketers feel they need to acquire in order to survive today’s data-centric marketing landscape. With 72% of marketers hoping to acquire data analysis skills in the next two years, data management is now considered more vital than social media (65%), web development (31%), graphics design (23%) and search engine optimisation (13%). Despite this fact however, 27% of marketers are still handing over the process of data analysis to the IT department.
According to BlueVenn’s research, this focus on understanding customer data is especially prevalent in large enterprises, where 4 out of 5 marketers (80%) consider data analysis to be a “vital” skill. In addition to this, data segmentation and modelling were also considered highly sought-after marketing skills, ranking as more important than both web development and graphic design within the enterprise space.
Commenting on these findings, Anthony Botibol, Marketing Director at BlueVenn said, “With the potential of big data, marketers have a better opportunity than ever before to truly understand their customers’ decision making processes. Unfortunately, as it stands most marketers simply don’t have the time, the knowledge or the tools necessary to undertake this task in a practical and effective way.
“While there is definitely a skills shortage when it comes to data analysis, I would argue that marketers shouldn’t have to skill-up in order to achieve this. Nobody should need to have a degree in data science in order to generate value from their customers’ information, what they need are tools and technologies that can simplify the task. Until marketers are provided with these tools, they will never unlock the true potential of their customers’ data.”
To download the full Customer Data: The Monster Under the Bed? report, click here.