Dive Brief:

• A new report from eMarketer on marketing technology found that companies are shifting their focus away from tech and toward data when looking at marketing platforms. 
• The reason for this shift is marketing tech is now an established part of managing the business and there is more value in utilizing data for personalization and other customer-centric marketing activities, according to report author and eMarketer analyst Nicole Perrin.
• The report points out that marketers are realizing that data is central to the marketing technology ecosystem.

Dive Insight:

In the simplest terms, the most powerful marketing platforms out there are worth nothing without quality data to drive them. Duane Schulz, vice president of digital and demand marketing and technology at Xerox, told eMarketer that data is the one area where marketers have the most work to do as the weakest link is the combination of content, technology engine and data, and that a priority for this year is putting together a marketing data model that allows for the data to influence customers' experiences rather than provide campaign learnings after the fact.

Marketing data does present marketers with challenges. First marketers have to ensure the quality of the data in order to derive maximum results from the robust martech platforms available. And data comes with privacy concerns, especially as data is increasingly tracked across devices. Earlier this month the Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program announced it would begin enforcing cross-device tracking privacy guidelines for first- and third-party data collectors.

The shift found by eMarketer points to the maturation of digital marketing. Brands are less interested these days in being first-movers on new technology and are increasingly looking to build engaging experiences where they can prove the return-on-investment, something that requires quality data. As technology like machine learning and artifical intelligence gain influence, marketers are also better able to sift through mounds of data to find actionable insights.