State of Digital Marketing Analytics Report 2019: Martech stacks of the top 1000 U.S. online retailers

Now in its 4th year, Cardinal Path’s annual State of Digital Marketing Analytics report has served as an industry lens into the real-world marketing technology (martech) stacks of leading brands.

View the press release.

This year, there are some data that confirm what we have been hearing for a while, e.g. first-party data is increasingly a priority for data-driven organizations, but there’s also a lot of movement in general. Organizations are clearly unafraid to shake up their stacks to better align with business goals or evolving privacy laws.

Nick Iyengar, the lead author on the report, says CMOs are asking not what their current martech stack can do for them, but what they can get rid of to streamline their operations and focus on the tech that directly supports their unique business goals. “It’s becoming less about buying up the latest tool as it hits the market and more about striking the right balance of technology, process, and people,” he says.

Report highlights:

- The marketing technology (Martech) landscape, while more extensive and complex than ever, is undergoing some consolidation.
- While marketing analytics have been universally adopted, the largest online retailers continue to use more than one analytics platform.
  - 30% of the Top 250 organizations have both Adobe Analytics & Google Analytics installed.
  - 73% of organizations with Adobe Analytics installed also have Google Analytics installed.
  - Adobe Analytics has the highest adoption rate in the Top 50 (56%) while Google Analytics has the largest share of 51-500 (84%) and 501-1000 (89%).
- Tag Management Systems adoption grew by 20%.
  - Google Tag Manager made gains across the board, including the Top 50, ousting Adobe DTM from the #2 ranking.
  - Tealium has a narrow lead in the Top 50.
- Google Optimize emerged as a leader in testing, optimization & personalization tools (23%), while Adobe Target (13.5%) maintains leadership in the Top 50, and Optimizely experienced a year-over-year decline of 31.7%.
- Data Management Platforms in the Top 250 experienced considerable losses in adoption from last year, with declines of up to 63%.

View the full report.

Cardinal Path will host a webinar discussion on the report’s findings and how organizations can best leverage their own martech stacks, on June 26th at 10 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET.