Two thirds of marketers need ‘data scientists’ to manage Big Data

New research has revealed 66% of marketers need ‘data scientists’ to help companies manage Big Data.

According to a poll of 500 attendees at the Aprimo 2012 Marketing Summit, 38% claimed to already incorporate data-driven insights into their marketing decisions but find it difficult to gather and integrate.

More than half are not currently leveraging big data due to “not knowing where to start”, the survey showed.

Jeff Chamberlain, VP of Marketing at Aprimo, said: “Data is getting bigger due to multi-channel customer interactions, but by the same token, consent for data usage is getting harder. It can therefore be challenging for marketers to know how to best derive optimal business value from their data.”

Additionally, the research revealed more than one third of respondents said that proving return on investment (ROI) is their biggest challenge, whilst a quarter said their top strategic goal was to measure marketing.

Chamberlain added: “Marketers must measure the impact of marketing spend on the business, they must make the connection between marketing and revenue, and prove ROI. Yet this is easier said than done, with the multitude of marketing channels, knowing what to measure, and which metrics to apply.”