By Scott Houchin, CMO, eClerx
Ask a CMO how their marketing technology investment is paying off, and the answer may be underwhelming. Only 35% of the marketing leaders surveyed for the 2026 Marketing Data Report said their martech is “very effective” at driving ROI and supporting their organization’s business goals. Considering that corporate martech investment has nearly doubled since 2023 and will reach $215B in 2027, it’s worth understanding why more organizations aren’t seeing better results yet.
Survey findings indicate that incomplete integration is a major reason for lagging ROI on martech spend. Across a range of industries, just 35-45% of enterprises have succeeded in fully integrating their marketing data with relevant departments, such as sales. Most of the rest are in the middle of a data integration process that isn’t finished, and different leaders within the organization may not agree on how far along it is. That perception gap results in many organizations running powerful tools on shaky data foundations. Closing the gap can help companies get more from their martech investments.
How big is the marketing data integration gap?
The most common answer to the survey question, “How integrated is your marketing data?” was “partially,” at 49%. Another 8% said their data was fragmented. Even in tech, a sector with resources to facilitate data infrastructure improvements, just 40% of leaders surveyed said their data was fully unified. Because martech solutions need data to deliver performance, the widespread lack of full integration appears to be a major drag on ROI.
Data integration is one of the foundational principles for successfully leveraging many kinds of technology, and it’s widely recognized as a critical first step before platform integration. So why isn’t it more common? The answer may lie in the different responses by CMOs and heads of digital marketing. A consistent gap emerges in the data, where CMOs are more likely than heads of digital marketing to say their organization’s data is fully integrated.
For example, 46% of tech CMOs said their company’s marketing data was fully integrated, but only 40% of heads of digital agreed. When the leaders responsible for strategy have a more optimistic view of the situation than the leaders responsible for execution, it can be difficult to prioritize completing the integration process and allocating the resources to make it happen.
The consequences of this perception gap include a lack of accurate measurement and less-than-optimal CX. More than half (56%) of survey participants said they’re just “moderately confident” in their ability to measure marketing ROI across channels because they need more real-time insights. The same percentage said their organization’s CX was just “somewhat consistent” because some systems or teams weren’t yet integrated.
Where marketing data integration breaks down
Surveyed marketing leaders named data quality and marketing-sales system connections as their two largest integration challenges. There’s a perception gap here as well. For example, 41% of CMOs in banking and financial services said data quality and consistency was their top challenge, but the top challenge cited by heads of digital marketing in that sector was integration between marketing and sales systems.
The same discrepancy also appeared in retail and telecommunications. In healthcare and life sciences, CMOs also ranked data quality as the top challenge, while heads of digital marketing named privacy and regulatory compliance as the largest hurdle. Only in the tech sector did CMOs and digital marketing heads align on the top challenge: marketing and sales system integration.
How can marketing leaders identify and close data integration gaps?
Fixing the integration problems that hamper martech investment ROI and CX quality starts with communication. Conversations between the CMO and head of digital marketing or other execution leaders help everyone understand where the integration gaps are and how different leaders view the potential impact and urgency of closing them. The next step is agreeing on priorities for data quality enhancement, systems integration, or whatever the highest-priority barrier is.
These discussions will put marketing leaders on the road to solving the problem. Identifying integration gaps reveals strategy and execution misalignments that can impede the wisest use of resources. Rethinking those issues points leaders towards the investments that will have the most direct ROI impact, such as data standardization and integration among existing platforms, rather than adding more marketing technology.
As those issues are addressed, marketing teams can more fully leverage the data their organizations collect. This is when companies that are stuck at partial integration can begin to catch up with the 35% that are already making the most of their fully integrated marketing data. Depending on which other systems are integrated—sales, customer service, and product development teams may also be able to use marketing data to deliver a more consistent customer experience across the customer lifecycle.
With full data integration, marketing leaders can also get more value from their martech stack’s real-time monitoring and learning capabilities. This can help deliver the kind of highly personalized, contextual experience that most brands can’t yet offer. It also makes it easier to measure results and calculate a clear ROI for the marketing team’s technology investments.
For many organizations, the big martech investments have already been made. Now, communication, strategy alignment, and investment to close integration gaps are the keys to full digital transformation and the realization of more value from existing technology.
##
Scott Houchin is the Chief Marketing Officer for eClerx. His responsibilities include marketing strategy, industry and service marketing, and lead generation for the organization. During his 16+ years at eClerx, Scott has rapidly grown our digital business across multiple industry sectors and global sales expansion in Asia and Europe. In 2015, he spearheaded eClerx’s acquisition of CLX Europe, an Italian creative agency, and continues to serve as CEO of the subsidiary. As the Industry Head of Fashion & Luxury, Scott is also responsible for leading our strategic relationships with global fashion and luxury groups and delivering their creative and digital experiences. Based in Dublin, he spends a majority of his time in the fashion hubs of Paris, Milan, London, and New York.
