Marketers in Australia and New Zealand are still struggling to properly manage data and get it working for them, per a report from Salesforce's marketing intelligence platform Datorama.

Data, Growth, and the New Marketing Mandate produced in conjunction with marketing research agency The Leading Edge, polled over 1,000 marketers across APAC, some 285 of whom are working in Australia and New Zealand.

By examining how they are integrating their marketing data to measure impact and business growth, the report states that over 93% of ANZ marketers have shifted their priorities to focus on marketing-led growth and 91% are focusing on marketing efficiency and improving ROI.

However, some of the biggest barriers that marketers face in driving growth revolve around data – with data mismanagement, lack of a unified view of performance and lack of real-time insights ranking as the top three.

Although 86% of ANZ marketers see the importance of a complete view of cross-channel marketing, they face a number of roadblocks when it comes to integrating their data for that holistic view, the report suggests. Some 69% of marketers still integrate data manually to an extent and the same percentage of those surveyed spend a week or more on harmonising data from disparate channels for reporting and analytics.

Other common issues cited include:

• 73% of marketers do not have access to real-time insights
• Nearly half (47%) marketers experience misalignment across teams on measurement and reporting
• Sharing and collaborating on data analysis remains a challenge for 36%

However, the report suggests marketers are making progress as they shift priorities to focus on business growth. It finds there is growing support from senior leaders for a stronger uptake of data-driven marketing (61%), as well as investments in marketing analytics technology (62%) and alignment on the KPIs that matter the most (62%).