The news: Although marketers have more data and more measurement tools than ever, many still can’t confidently identify what drives pipeline, per a survey by Madison Logic and The Harris Poll.

• 85% of US advertising, communications, marketing, and social media decision-makers say modern marketing is focused on proving ROI, but nearly half (48%) are “guessing” which marketing efforts drive purchase decisions.
• 90% think that marketers who can’t clearly demonstrate business impact will have problems justifying budgets going forward.
• 84% say getting a better idea of “how buying groups engage across channels” is a top priority for the next year.

What it means: Rather than a dearth of data, marketers are struggling to combine marketing efforts, customer engagement, sales execution, and revenue outcomes into a coherent picture of impact. Organizations that can’t connect activities to revenues risk losing credibility with leadership, even as they invest in more sophisticated measurement tools.

Stitching customer signals together across fragmented buying journeys is a prominent challenge considering nearly half (47%) of US consumers call their path to purchase “random” and 88% switch between digital activities in an hour’s time, per MiQ and Censuswide.

The volume of touchpoints consumers pass through on their way to discovery or purchase offers brands multiple opportunities for engagement and metrics, but siloed data analysis efforts and outcome tracking on marketing teams can obscure which moves are actually driving revenues.

Recommendations for marketers: When marketing budgets grow, so can scrutiny from executives, making visibility essential to proving the business impact of campaigns and outreach.

Firm up communication channels between data analysts and marketing consultants—which could include a liaison role. This will ensure the latter can plan strategies based on clear, structured evidence of outcomes while also strengthening pipeline intelligence and closed-loop measurement.

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