Nine in ten comms professionals believe access to data across all areas of marketing and communications is important to their role, however almost two-thirds say accessing this data is a struggle.

New research by Boldspace reveals that almost two-thirds (62%) of communications professionals are struggling to access the data they need to succeed in their positions. Many believe the segmentation of PR, marketing and communications prevents the industries from reaching a shared goal, with nine in ten communications professionals desiring better access to data across all these areas. The research involved 300 industry professionals from across the sectors. 

“The roles, responsibilities and results of marketing, advertising and PR leaders are merging,” says Boldspace co-founder Nick Ford-Young. “The need for effective integration, efficient tracking, visibility of the right data points and benchmarking against the right competition has the ability to achieve results like never before.”

Reflecting the need for greater collaboration, communications professionals think more attention needs to be placed on tracking strategy and creative, with 95% believing creative needs to be tracked as frequently as every two-to-three days. This indicates the greater value attributed to creative by communicators, despite a lack of expertise to track its effectiveness.

Strategy, however, is believed to have the greatest impact on growth by over a third (34%) of professionals. Yet, according to the report, 29% of respondents believe this area is still not being prioritised enough.  

“It’s critical that marketing and PR are aligned,” says Victoria Gibbs, group head of marketing at Virgin Limited Edition. “If they become treated as completely standalone entities, it not only limits communication but also reduces a team’s efficiency.

“Having an integrated approach ensures that everyone is following the same strategy and there is alignment across all activities.”

Nick Ford-Young continues: “As an industry in the broadest possible sense – across advertising, marketing and PR – we are still not on the same page. We believe the time to solve this is now, driven by technology that enables true, effective integration.”