Today’s brands have no shortage of data at their fingertips, but our latest survey reveals that many businesses get caught in a bottleneck between yesterday’s metrics and tomorrow’s results.
Intuit Mailchimp recently surveyed 500 businesses in the US about the areas where they’re spending the most time and money, how they’re leveraging data, and how they’re implementing AI. We learned that many businesses are still spending significant time on data analysis, or leaving data on the table entirely, while others struggle to bridge that gap from insight to impact, even with AI tools at their disposal. From underperforming campaigns to “metric anxiety,” this bottleneck has real impact on how businesses approach their jobs.
For many, data is both a powerful growth-driver and an efficiency sticking point: Business owners shared that they’re pouring up to ten hours a week into manual data analysis, with ecommerce teams spending an additional hour on top of that. And while the majority (71%) of businesses we surveyed are using AI tools for marketing, operations, or scaling, nearly a third of businesses using AI say that they’re still heavily involved in daily operations. These businesses tell us they have too much data and not enough time to turn it into actionable insights.
Survey Findings:
Businesses, especially ecommerce, are spending significant time trying to understand data.
- Businesses report spending an average of 10 hours per week on manual data analysis. For ecommerce businesses, that number is 11.
Teams are still logging hours of manual work to grow their customer base.
- Nearly half (48%) of business owners say they are spending the most time growing their customer base or sales, with half (48%) of these businesses saying they wish they had even more time for this. Meanwhile, businesses also report losing time to manual customer reactivation, sinking an average of 7 hours per week into manually engaging with lapsed customers. About a fifth of businesses are spending more than 10 hours on this.
AI tools are driving growth for businesses.
- 71% of businesses are using AI tools for Marketing, Operations or Scaling, and two-thirds (67%) of business owners say AI tools have fuelled business growth in the last year.
…But it hasn’t taken all the busywork off of businesses plates.
- 61% of business owners using AI say that, while it has freed up some time for strategic or growth efforts, they are still heavily involved in daily operations.
Most businesses are leaving data on the table.
- In many cases, businesses could be doing more with their data: Two-thirds (65%) of businesses reported having access to data or analytics they rarely or never use.
Businesses report a lack of clarity around the most effective channels.
- At the same time, a third (31%) of business owners told us they have limited or no knowledge on which marketing channel drives the most revenue. On average, businesses report spending a fifth (21%) of their marketing budget on channels they can't measure effectiveness or ROI from.
This lack of clarity is a stressor.
- A majority of business owners we surveyed (70%) report feeling "metric anxiety" (due to data overload or the pressure to prove ROI with incomplete data) when starting a marketing campaign.
Data shouldn’t be a drain a business owner’s time. With our newly expanded AI-powered analytics, broader data integrations, and new AI connector partnerships, Mailchimp is helping brands bridge this gap, making sophisticated marketing simple for every business.