the data ownership dilemma€¦ · roadblocks experienced (66%), data and spend account best...

DataTHE

DilemmaA DEFINING MOMENT FOR SOCIAL ADVERTISERS

Industry Stakeholders Reveal Their Data Access & Reporting Is Mediocre At Best

Exclusive Report

Ownership

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Executive Summary..........................................................................

A Majority Don’t Have Or Don’t Know IfThey Have Guaranteed Data Access.............................................

Unsurprisingly, Social Ad Spend ContinuesTo Rise While TV Remains Flat........................................................

Increased Social Advertising Spend Is HavingA Real Effect On The Division Of Labor.........................................

Data Ownership Is Now Top Of Mind For Advertisers..............

Key Capabilities Marketers WantTo Achieve With Data Ownership.................................................

Discrepancies Emerge Between PerceptionAnd Application Of Transparency.................................................

Considerable Gaps In Reporting CanBe Tied Back To Data Ownership.................................................

Final Thoughts.................................................................................

About The Survey............................................................................

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CONTENTS

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

With social media advertising investments poised to more than double over the next 5 years,1 the amount of data produced from these campaigns is only expected to skyrocket—posing an intimidating challenge for marketers. Even at the brand level, the volume of teams, tools, and campaigns has reached a fever point—such that attempting to turn around meaningful analytics within a short duration has become increasingly necessary and discouragingly complex.

In this study, we uncover brand marketer sentiment toward owning their own data, discover who the social data stakeholders are, and explore the delta between where brands stand today versus where they wish to be in the future.

Key Findings include:

• 87% of marketers perceive ownership of social advertising data as important, and nearly 70% indicated that it’ll become even more essential in the next 12 months.

• The top three social campaign activities that marketers would like to engage in (but are not doing today) are: having a contingency plan if they switch agencies (52%), enriching and organizing raw data (47%), and independently verifying performance data (45%).

• The majority of respondents didn’t know the duration needed to access data after switching agencies, and 86% weren’t fully confident in their ability to access historical campaign performance.

• 46% said they had to wait from one week to more than a month for social ad campaign performance data.

• 59% reported partial-to-no transparency regarding how campaigns performed, and 53% stated partial-to-no transparency as to how much was spent on campaigns.

• The top desired reporting attributes were: missed pricing opportunities (71%), roadblocks experienced (66%), data and spend account best practices (56%), deeper audience insights (55%), and an investment summary by publisher (52%).

1. Digital Ad Spending Worldwide, by Format, 2017–2023, eMarketer/Cowen and Company

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A MAJORITY DON’T HAVE OR DON’T KNOW IF THEY HAVE GUARANTEED DATA ACCESS

A MAJORITY DON’T HAVE OR DON’T KNOW IF THEY HAVE GUARANTEED DATA ACCESS

While marketers overwhelmingly recognize the importance of social advertising data ownership and transparency, most are simply scratching the surface, if at all. This may be due in part to many of them not exploring more substantive questions about both topics. For example, what happens to their data if they switch agencies, do they have a way to independently verify information in their wrap-up reports, and do they have the capability to integrate proprietary data.

One of the best ways to guarantee transparent access to social advertising investment data is to have it outlined within agency contracts. Despite this, 65% of marketers could not cite they included clauses addressing ownership in their contracts. And the most popular answer indicates they don’t know at all (43%).

65% of marketers could not cite they included clauses

addressing ownership in their contracts

Marketers Who Have a Guaranteed Level of Access to Social Ad Data in Agency Contract

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UNSURPRISINGLY, SOCIAL AD SPEND CONTINUES TO RISE WHILE TV REMAINS FLAT

UNSURPRISINGLY, SOCIAL AD SPEND CONTINUES TO RISE WHILE TV REMAINS FLATWhat is causing the data ownership disconnect? Spend is one place to point to. As you would expect, digital ad budgets—and specifically social investments—have grown over the past 12 months. The most notable channels were social media and online video, which 66% and 61% of respondents said increased, respectively. There is some crossover, as video on Facebook and Youtube was also considered part of the online video category.

Mobile and email rounded out the top four, with the greatest number of marketers citing these two will largely remain stagnant —particularly email.

TV, the only traditional medium included, was said to decrease by almost a third (31%) of respondents.

Ad Spend Change In Past 12 Months

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Looking to the future, this trend is expected to continue over the next 12 months. Social media and online video continue to lead the way with the biggest increase relative to cur-rent spend—64% and 62%, respectively.

In contrast, TV will largely remain flat, with 6% stating they will remove the channel from their marketing budget altogether.

Overall, the influx of social media invest-ments dramatically increased both the amount of data produced by paid activa-tions, and numerous questions regarding who owns it.

Social media (64%) and online video (62%) had the

highest budget increase relevant to current spend

UNSURPRISINGLY, SOCIAL AD SPEND CONTINUES TO RISE WHILE TV REMAINS FLAT

Projected Ad Spend Change In The Next 12 Months

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INCREASED SOCIAL ADVERTISING SPEND IS HAVING A REAL EFFECT ON THE DIVISION OF LABORWith a higher number of investments applied toward social ad campaigns, the number of teams and partners implementing them also increases. 64% of marketers—nearly two-thirds—said they use more than one agency, and that multiple agencies work on a single campaign. Moreover, half reported using three or more partners.

The intricacy of these relationships creates challenges when attempt-ing to coordinate data, drive ad effectiveness, or simply produce an apples to apples comparison across critical metrics. This occurs between brand and agency, as well as between multiple in-house teams and external partners using various platforms.

BRAND EXECUTIVE OUTLOOK

A Perspective On the Dynamics of Data AccessWithin the Brand-Agency Relationship

MATTHEW PRITCHARD | VP, DIGITAL MARKETING | CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY

“When brands want to switch agencies and partners, it becomes a real pain point. The analogy I use is that most clients still have a room in their house owned by the agencies. They only give you the right to knock on the door and say, “OK, well, your room is a living room [but you don’t get a key to go in].” I think we’ll see a shift

toward brands owning all the rooms in the house. They’ll give their partners access to wherever they want with the front door keys and say, “You can come in whenever you want, but at any point I can take back my key, and give that key to somebody else.” So I think you’ll see a transition to much more direct relationships with other data providers.”

INCREASED SOCIAL ADVERTISING SPEND IS HAVING A REAL EFFECT ON THE DIVISION OF LABOR

Number of Agency Partners Per Brand Typically Working On Social Advertising Campaigns

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The most common response was an equal division between internal and external teams at 32%, followed by most work being done by an agency at 28%. This labor division vari-ance, which impacts the number of parties requiring access to social campaign data, eas-ily lends itself to ineffective communica-tion. Overall it yields either insufficient or incomplete transparency.

This multi-team dynamic also directly impacts the number of social ad accounts used in campaign support. This is due to agency partners often creating ad accounts on behalf of a brand.

Nearly half of marketers reported hav-ing five or more social ad accounts, while nearly a quarter (23%) cited using more than ten to support their brands.

INCREASED SOCIAL ADVERTISING SPEND IS HAVING A REAL EFFECT ON THE DIVISION OF LABOR

A challenge arises when teams and partners acting on behalf of brands will create ad accounts to deploy specific ini-tiatives without transferring ownership to the brand upon completion. Left un-checked, companies are left with mul-tiple ad accounts for each brand that they ultimately do not own and cannot access.

WHAT IS A SOCIAL AD ACCOUNT?A social ad account is where ads are created, deployed, and optimized in connection with a brand page. Essentially, it’s the funding source and data container for any social campaign.

Division of Work Between Internal Marketing Staff and Agency On Social Ad Campaigns

Number of Social Ad Accounts Used to Support All Brands and Sub-Brands

Looking more closely at the division of labor, the majority of marketers report at least some degree of a split between internal staff and agency partners.

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It’s clear that brand marketers recognize the importance of securing complete ownership of their social advertising data, with 87% stating it was important.

Of this group, the number one answer categorized social advertising data ownership as “very important”—the highest degree offered.

DATA OWNERSHIP IS NOW TOP OF MIND FOR ADVERTISERS



A Perspective On the Dynamics of Coordinating Data Access With Agency Partners


“It’s hard to bring all your [performance] data together so that you get a truly overarching perspective of how things are working, and understand what trigger to pull to optimize your campaigns. Coming into marketing now is the hardest it’s ever been—it’s the most exciting, but it’s definitely harder. I think it’s going to continue

to get harder as we get more opportunities to connect and engage with consumers critically—specifically in how data becomes available, and how you have to try to string it all together.”

87% of marketers view having full ownership of social advertising data as important

Perceived Importance of Full Ownership of Social Advertising Data

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Respondents also felt the importance of social advertising data ownership would only escalate in the upcoming year. Nearly 70% indicated it would become more important, with the most popular answer being, “It will become much more important”—the highest degree offered.

This drastic sentiment shift toward data ownership suggests a tipping point is occurring within the industry.

AGENCY OUTLOOK

A Perspective On Client Attitudes Toward Data Ownership

ConsensusA range of responses emerged when agency representatives weighed in on client attitudes toward owning their own data. Most clients are aware of their data, but key ownership inhibitors include technical competence, internal resources, and a minimal understanding of the competitive advantage data offers. In some cases, regulatory issues led clients to become more protective of their social advertising data.

“Some clients love their data, and love to analyze it. Others don't even realize they have data.”

“They feel their data is a competitive advantage. Very protective.”

“It's theirs, period. We usually retain the rights to talk about it in a collective sense, and masked, but it is theirs.”

“Clients prefer to own data but often lack resources or experience to handle data storage or analysis.”

“Clients want access, but largely rely on the agency to bring insights and use the data to drive strategy. They want to know what the data shows so they can take that to their superiors.”

“Most are protective, but also somewhat clueless.”


Direct Quotes

Perceived Importance of Full Ownership of Social Advertising Data Within the Coming Year

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Despite the perceived significance of data ownership, there were some notable gaps when comparing what they can do today versus what they’d like to do.

Marketers felt confident that they have certain applications of the data already in place, such as developing reports according to business needs (67%), distributing reports according to business needs (66%), and approving/denying work using certain tools (62%). But as you’ll learn in the next section, even these tasks have only been perceived on a superficial level.

In contrast, several tasks exist where those with a desire to implement outnumber those who had implemented. These included the ability to enrich raw data and organize it according to business structure (47% seeking), and independently validating performance data (45% seeking). But the largest gap comes in establishing a data contingency plan for switching agencies, where more than half of marketers (52%) sought to have this in place versus 23% who reported thinking they have one today.

KEY CAPABILITIES MARKETERS WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH DATA OWNERSHIP

KEY CAPABILITIES MARKETERS WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH DATA OWNERSHIP

52% of marketers want to have a data contingency plan for

agency switches

Adoption of Social Campaign Activities

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DISCREPANCIES EMERGE BETWEEN PERCEPTION AND APPLICATION OF TRANSPARENCYInconsistencies exist between the transparency marketers perceived they had and their confidence in gaining access to their data—especially when switching partners.


A Perspective On the Dynamics of Data Access as It Relates to Agency Transitions


“[Data] becomes a key decision factor when you’re shifting agencies, and one that will continue to become a challenge. If an agency’s losing work, they’re not incentivized to give you access. Or maybe your contract wasn’t watertight. You want to actually finalize reporting, or even better, get the actual data. [Data

ownership] is becoming an increasingly important part of any MSA or contract and will become a key part of every transition plan.”

Agency Transitions

With the majority of marketers seeking a contingency plan for switching agencies, it’s not surprising that such instances come with some disruption.

The largest segment of respondents (more than 30%) did not know the length of time needed to access both their live and historical data after such a switch.

DISCREPANCIES EMERGE BETWEEN PERCEPTION AND APPLICATION OF TRANSPARENCY

Length of Time Needed to Access Data After Agency Switch

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> 1 in 5 marketers wait several weeks or more to gain access to live data

86% of marketers were not fully confident in their ability to access historical campaign performance and investment data

With live data, more than 1 in 5 marketers had to wait several weeks or more to gain access, versus 34% for historical data.

Although 35% of respondents indicated think they received live data—and 24% stated they received historical data immediately to within a few days—a steep contrast exists when compared to their level of confidence.

86% of marketers were not fully confident in their ability to access historical campaign performance and investment data. The most popular response was “somewhat confident” (32%), indicating a low-to-moderate level of certainty.

Overall, How Confident are You That You Would Be Able to Access Your Historical Campaign Performance and Investment Data If Your Company Switched Agencies?

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“If the client is switching agencies to someone else, we provide as much reporting information and plan details as possible in one transition meeting/email (and then remove ourselves from the conversations).”

“It's certainly a time-consuming process, but we hand over management of any channels we are admins for and share (roughly) the previous year's data and insights we've gathered.”

“If a client is moving away from our agency, we transfer account ownership if possible. If not, we will disconnect our admin access, etc., once the contract ends.”

“If leaving us, we support the transition according to pre-established agreements. If we are on the receiving end, we conduct a pre-established onboarding account protocol.”

“[It’s largely] dependent on the clients and their prior success with ad accounts, whether they want to roll them over to be refined by the new agency or rebuild.”

AGENCY OUTLOOK

A Perspective On How Partners Handle Ad Accounts When Transitioning Clients

ConsensusAlthough agency representatives often expressed their desire to take steps to ensure a smooth transition, it was clear that not only are issues common, but that agreements also play a role. Marketers who want to preserve access to their social ad account data must take extra measures to ensure agencies are prepared to transfer ownership in a timely manner.

Direct Quotes


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CONSIDERABLE GAPS IN REPORTING CAN BE TIED BACK TO DATA OWNERSHIPWhen asked about the level of transparency marketers had in regards to spend and performance, the highest level of confidence with regard to their visibility into how much was spent (39%) and how campaigns performed (33%).

However, there were more marketers who expressed gaps in reporting. 59% of respondents said they had partial-to-no transparency into how campaigns performed, and 53% reported partial-to-no transparency into how much was spent on campaigns.

CONSIDERABLE GAPS IN REPORTING CAN BE TIED BACK TO DATA OWNERSHIP

When examining attributes marketers currently see in their wrap-up reports compared to what they would like to see, there was a large appetite for flexibility. 80% indicated that they are either implementing or would like to implement a wide range of features.

59% of respondents said they had partial-to-no transparency into how campaigns performed

Degree of Transparency for Attributes of Social Ad Spend Reporting

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It was clear that developing full-picture analytics was more aspirational than actu-alized, however. This was particularly true for missed pricing opportunities, where only 12% had visibility today versus 71% who desired to in the future. Roadblocks experienced was also a top ambition, with only 26% stating they had transparency there versus 66% who wanted it. Other insights marketers wanted to see included data and spending account best practices (56%), analysis of all audiences beyond topline views (55%), and an investment summary by publisher (52%).

Another way to gauge transparency is in terms of timing. Since social media is a real-time, dynamic activation, it’s not only important to have visibility into key insights, but to have them in a timely manner.

According to respondents, 46% report that they have to wait from a week to more than a month to acquire social advertising data, versus 22% who receive it within a few days.


Marketers identified missed pricing opportunities (71%), roadblocks (66%), and best practices (56%) as the top reporting attributes they want to implement

Presence of Reporting Attributes In Social Ad Wrap Up Reports

Time Required to Receive Social Ad Campaign Performance Data from Agency

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“It involves quite a bit of manual effort since most [brands] do not have any kind of integrated dashboard. A junior analyst will pull the various data types, do some initial number crunching, then share with a director who will request additional analysis and pull together the story. There needs to be a more automated process for partner reporting.”

“Since we do not have a dedicated data team, this process falls on strategists and producers—and the manual effort involved can be extensive depending on the client and what they want extracted.”

“The manual effort requires an incredible number of hours, specifically for associates/supervisors. We're working to automate reporting to lessen the burden of data pulls to focus on insights/analysis.”

“We currently do not do analysis of social media data, but I think this is something we should probably start.”

“We are moving toward a less manual, more automated system for this, but there will always be a certain degree of manual effort involved.”


AGENCY OUTLOOK

A Perspective On the Level of Effort Needed toCreate Social Advertising Analyses for Clients

ConsensusSome agency executives noted progress on automation where minimal integration was required. Others noted they had to lean on dedicated analytics teams or senior-level staff to bring diverse data sets together and develop meaningful intelligence. Furthermore, while analysis is critical for developing best practices, manual processes almost certainly translate into additional billable hours.

Direct Quotes

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“[It depends on] our ability to organize the data meaningfully and robustly enough to have confidence in it.”

“Depending on the client, some are daily, weekly, monthly, etc.”

“We set up a regular cadence with clients based on needs—usually biweekly.”

“We share weekly reports with our clients to maintain transparency and let them know of any optimizations made during that week.”

“[It depends on the] relationship with the client, and level of engagement with them.”

AGENCY OUTLOOK

A Perspective On The Factors That Affect How Often Reports are Shared with Clients

ConsensusA wide variety of responses exists regarding reporting frequency that correlate with the nature of agency-client relationships. Brands wanting to respond immediately to social advertising factors must clearly communicate this to their agency partners, or (preferably) include this desire in their contract. Agencies also differ significantly in their ability to confidently organize data into actionable intelligence.

Direct Quotes


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Brands are increasingly investing in social advertising. This places marketers in a position where they simply can’t keep up with the quantity of data their teams and agency partners are producing. An increasing number of ad accounts created on a brand’s behalf makes total access to their data increasingly challenging—especially when it’s decided to switch partners.

Due to lack of direct access and—in many cases—reliance on agency partners to provide insights and reporting, marketers are unable to get intelligence in a timely manner and are unable expand the depth of provided learnings. With spending on (and sentiment around) data ownership continuing to increase in the coming years, it’ll be imperative for brands to overcome these roadblocks in order to scale campaign activations and ROI.

FINAL THOUGHTS

About This Report

About Unified

About Brand Innovators

Brand Innovators conducted this survey in March and April of 2018 with 120 mid-to-senior-level brand marketers across 18 unique industry sectors and 17 industry roles. Additionally, qualitative surveys were answered by 77 agency representatives.

Unified helps marketers make informed and impactful decisions by providing the industry’s only business intelligence platform purposely designed for social advertising. With experience collecting and enriching nearly $4 billion dollars of social investment data, Unified is passionate about providing Fortune 2000 brands and agencies greater transparency into their many teams, tools, and strategies. With offices in Austin, New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, the Unified Platform and service teams are specifically built to ensure data quality, optimize investments, and answer critical business questions.

Brand Innovators is an exclusive community of brand marketers from the world’s top brands, gathering regularly for thought leadership conferences and social events. Formed in 2011, Brand Innovators focuses on sharing knowledge about marketing and technology among fellow industry leaders.

the data ownership dilemma€¦ · roadblocks experienced (66%), data and spend account best...

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