Many marketers report strong confidence in their overall marketing effectiveness, but that confidence is often based on high-level measures and does not fully reflect performance across more complex activities such as reaching prospects, delivering personalization and measuring results.
The research reveals a consistent pattern: identity resolution improves reported marketing effectiveness, but uneven deployment and execution limit how much value organizations realize.
Perceived effectiveness
Many marketers believe their marketing is working
53%
of marketers rate the overall effectiveness of their marketing as very or extremely effective
At a high level, marketers appear confident in their performance. But overall effectiveness does not reveal how well organizations perform when the work becomes more demanding, such as reaching less-known audiences, delivering personalized campaigns or measuring results at an individual level.
Under closer scrutiny
Identity users begin to pull ahead when performance is tested more rigorously
As expectations shift toward greater relevance, personalization and accountability, marketing effectiveness depends on more than broad perceptions of success.
Across reaching prospects, digital campaign performance and personalization, marketers using identity resolution report substantially higher levels of effectiveness than marketers who do not.
Identity becomes a clear differentiator when marketers move from broad confidence to specific capabilities.
Audience activation
Identity users are more effective at reaching individual prospects
Digital effectiveness
Identity users report stronger digital campaign performance
Personalized experiences
Identity users are better positioned to deliver personalization
of marketers using identity resolution say they can very or extremely effectively deliver personalized campaigns.
of marketers not using identity resolution say the same.
Basic personalization may be possible without identity, but consistent personalization becomes more difficult as programs scale.
Across these capabilities, identity users do not just report incremental improvement. They describe a meaningfully different level of effectiveness.
Value and maturity
Identity delivers value, but that value is not fully realized
Taken together, the findings suggest that many organizations are benefiting from identity resolution. However, shallow deployment and uneven execution continue to limit its overall impact.
The value of identity is clear
81%
of marketers rate the overall effectiveness of their marketing as very or extremely effective
Deployment remains limited
41%
of identity users say identity resolution is applied to only half or fewer of their marketing solutions
Execution has room to mature
41%
of identity users say they are not using their identity resolution solution to the best of its ability.
Identity resolution is associated with stronger marketing performance, but the greatest opportunity lies in applying it more broadly and using it more effectively.
The story behind the findings
Confidence is only the starting point
Many marketers believe they are effective today. But when performance is evaluated across prospecting, campaign effectiveness and personalization, identity users consistently report stronger results.
Even then, identity’s impact depends on execution. Organizations gain more value when identity is applied broadly and connected across marketing activities rather than treated as a limited capability within an isolated solution.
Identity helps close the gap between perceived success and stronger marketing performance.
Next: AUDIENCE GROWTH
The identity gap widens beyond known customers.
Marketers place nearly equal priority on identifying prospects and existing customers. But as audience knowledge decreases, confidence and execution begin to diverge.
See why reaching individual prospects is one of the clearest moments where identity resolution separates marketing performance.
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