Data has become critically important in today’s business world—and marketers have become very aware of its value in generating additional revenues for their companies. However, a majority of marketers are concerned about the presumedly valuable data their companies may be discarding, according to a recent Digital Data Exhaust Survey conducted by geolocation data and services firm Digital Element.
The survey, conducted in partnership with the Location Based Marketing Association, showed that digital marketers recognized “data exhaust” as a growing issue for their companies. Data exhaust is a term used to describe the data that companies toss out because they feel it provides little or no value to their core business.
The majority of respondents―regardless of company type―were either very (39 percent) or somewhat (29 percent) concerned with data exhaust
Almost one-third of digital marketers did not know the percentage of data their companies actually threw away. Another 18 percent indicated they were throwing away at least 25 to 50 percent of their data.
“This survey was designed to explore whether or not companies were throwing away valuable information that could ultimately help them generate additional revenues,” said Rob Friedman, co-founder and executive vice president of Digital Element, in a news release.
“Our company’s technology and services are built around non-invasively extracting and synthesizing data points for advertising, personalization and analytics as well as other business applications,” he added. “There is a wealth of intelligence contained in an IP address that many companies overlook―and which, if used, would allow companies to confidently produce the necessary one-to-one digital marketing experience that more closely resembles the real world.”
While almost 40 percent of respondents said they were fully leveraging the types of IP data that were available or that they needed, 61 percent of digital marketers left plenty of room for improvement because they were not utilizing all the different data points available to them or were not aware of the different types of data associated with an IP address.
Among the survey’s other findings:
- With an opportunity to use an extra 25 percent of the data they currently discard, 60 percent of respondents said it would definitely result in increased revenues.
- 71 percent of digital marketers ranked location data as very important:
- 55 percent were currently using location-based IP data
- 32 percent planned to add it in the next 12 to 18 months
- 78 percent of respondents ranked accuracy as their top concern when specifically related to IP data
“As we approach a projected 20-billion-plus ‘connected things’ by 2020, data―in particular location data―will become more and more vital to business’ success, and the methods and strategies for visualizing and analyzing that data will become equally complex,” said Asif R. Khan, founder and president of the Location Based Marketing Association, in the release. “Companies that can mine and analyze the data, effectively closing the gaps, will become the leaders in location intelligence and be the biggest beneficiaries in today’s digital marketplace.”
Download an executive summary of the research here.
The Digital Data Exhaust Survey represents responses from 100 digital marketing professionals from around the world. The survey was primarily administered to the LBMA’s global membership, online and through phone calls during July and August 2018. Responses were also elicited from digital marketing executives outside the LBMA membership, augmented through email and social media outreach.
