Executive Summary 1 Growth is a defined directive. Two in three marketers have aligned their priorities to focus on Today’s marketer has unprecedented access to the tools and data leading growth, and 96% of marketers believe that the marketing they need to create exceptional customer experiences and grow their function has a critical role to play in driving ROI and growth for their businesses. This has resulted in a fundamental shift in how marketers business. measure success and make decisions. In the past, marketing was often seen simply as the “steward of the brand.” Now, driving real 2 The marketing landscape is increasingly complex. business growth has become marketing’s biggest priority. Individual marketers use an average of 13 different marketing and Armed with data, all marketers — from analysts to channel managers advertising platforms. to executives — are expected to prioritize growth and prove the value of every marketing investment. But this transition to marketing-led growth has not been easy. In this report, we examine the interplay of 3 Cross-channel data integration is a common challenge. growth and data in marketing today, and the key trends driving both. Only 33% of marketers describe their company’s current state of marketing data integration and management as “excellent.” 4 Marketing reporting and analytics need greater speed and sophistication. Customer preferences are ephemeral, and marketers must move at their speed. However, only 20% of marketers cited real-time or daily access to cross-channel marketing performance data and only 8% have achieved fully automated cross-channel reporting. 5 Marketing culture and technology are shifting in the context of growth initiatives. Organizations are undergoing cultural transformations to be more data-driven through support from executive leadership (49%) and investment in marketing analytics platforms and technology (44%). salesforce.com 4