Indian marketers find integrating data from different sources difficult: TNS Marketing Monitor

In an increasingly data-rich environment, what exactly challenges marketers? According to the TNS Marketing Monitor the inability to integrate various data sources leads to confusion for marketers.

The TNS study surveyed 2,700 marketing professionals across the Asia-Pacific and found that the volume and variety of data is obscuring valuable insights and making it harder for businesses to use it to their advantage.

According to the data shared, Indian companies are investing in tracking systems in order to better understand the changing digital ecosystem. This has increased to such an extent that one in three marketers now manage real-time data as part of their role.

However, 70 per cent of marketers in India admit that they find it difficult to integrate data from different sources. With so much data available, marketers know they should be able to make decisions in real-time, but many are struggling to integrate traditional and digital measurements.

According to S. Visvanathan, managing director, South India & Sri Lanka and head of brand & communications practice, TNS India, many businesses are overwhelmed by the volume of data. "India's online environment is developing at breakneck speed. As more and more people start connecting to the internet through mobile and accessing digital platforms, the amount of data is set to explode. The key is to understand how to use it effectively now, before the volume becomes unmanageable."

Many view the current market research methods as not helping marketers make quick and informed decisions. Nitin Nishandar, managing director of brand & communications, Asia Pacific, TNS, explains, "The difficulties in extracting valuable insight from data means that marketers have a rear-view mirror approach, only understanding their performance and brand equity weeks or even months afterwards. Real-time data needs to deliver real-time value - otherwise it's just distracting noise."

Having access and using the correct digital data has the potential to unlock future opportunities for those businesses that can leverage it. The survey also found that two out of three marketers across Asia are frustrated with the lack of predictive insight provided by traditional market research. New methods are showing that digital data, when integrated correctly, can not only help make real-time decisions, but can also predict brand equity.