Adverity latest study revealed 45% of the data marketers use to make business decisions is incomplete, inaccurate, or out of date. And 43% of CMOs believe less than half of their marketing data can be trusted.
Fixing the Foundation: The State of Marketing Data Quality 2025 survey found this lack of confidence is not confined to certain markets or industries—it is a global issue, with limited variation across company size, sector, or region. Whether a global brand or a regional agency, marketers are struggling with the same fundamental issue: poor-quality data.
When asked what would most improve marketing performance, the top rank answered from CMOs was improving data quality (30%), ahead of automating data workflows (22%) and improving data democratization (21%).
Prioritize Fixing Data Problems
According to Alexander Igelsböck, CEO of Adverity, the message from marketing leaders is clear: while emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are impacting decision-making, they can only deliver value if the underlying data is complete, accurate, and reliable.
“Data is the fuel for every modern marketing engine, yet our research shows that almost half of that fuel is contaminated,” said Igelsböck in a statement. “Marketers know that to drive performance, they must first fix the fundamentals: completeness, consistency, and accuracy of their data. Without this, even the most advanced analytics or AI will fall short.”
The Impact of AI
Marketing teams are aware that focusing efforts on data quality as a whole would make a significant impact on their performance, and this urgency has likely been catalyzed by the evolution of analytics tools powered by AI that depend on clean, high-quality data.
While data quality is so deeply embedded in the day-to-day that many teams no longer question it, this complacency won’t last. The rise of AI in analytics is forcing marketing teams to confront data quality head-on.
The research identifies the areas where CMOs believe the most progress is needed to address data quality issues:
- Completeness (31%): ensuring all relevant data is collected and available.
- Consistency (26%): removing discrepancies between sources to create a single version of the truth.
- Uniqueness (16%): eliminating duplication and overlap to avoid misleading metrics, unnecessary costs, and fragmented customer histories.
B2B Opportunities
While the research underlines the widespread pain points around data quality, it highlights a significant opportunity. CMOs recognize that solving these challenges will unlock new levels of performance and efficiency.
By investing in smarter data integration, transformation, and governance, B2B marketing leaders can create the strong foundations needed to power advanced analytics and AI-driven insight, said Igelsböck.
“This report is a wake-up call for the industry to prioritize data quality before everything else,” he said.
To get the full Fixing the Foundation: The State of Marketing Data Quality 2025 report, click here.
