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Marketing SaaS Analytics Sentiment Report 2022

May 5, 2022

Lies Meynen

Hot off the press, marketing SaaS analytics suck! Read the report and learn from 1,500 product reviews how to do better.

Companies that lack data-driven decisions in marketing miss out on a 15-20% boost in marketing ROI. With a global annual marketing spend of $1 trillion, advertisers could generate as much as $150-200 billion in additional revenue. As a software vendor, you don’t want to let your customers down.

Your marketing software may already offer insights into your customer’s marketing actions. But how do your customers feel about the way you present insights? Do your reports offer relevant data about their marketing activities? And if they do, is there room for improvement in the customer analytics experience?

The answer to these questions will become clear in this article. Here’s how we studied the state of customer-facing analytics in Marketing Software-as-a-Service.

What we researched

Our team researched how marketing platforms currently offer analytics, and what customers think about the experience. We selected a total of 50 Marketing Automation and SEO tools on G2 and looked at their:

  • Feature pages on their websites
  • Pricing pages mentioning analytics
  • User reviews on G2
G2 marketing automation software grid
Example of the Marketing Automation software quadrant on G2. Market leaders cover the top half, niche tools and market disruptors cover the bottom half.

We found over 5,000 G2 reviews with keywords such as ‘reports,’ ‘dashboard’ and ‘analytics,’ and categorized the 1,500 most recent reviews based on positive, negative or neutral sentiment. Of all those reviews, we analyzed more than 150 recent reviews more in-depth.

What users are saying

Out of all marketing software reviews, 1 in 4 reviews were about analytics, dashboards or reports. Marketers care about reporting and have plenty to say about their experience.

Every marketing software offers analytics features, but many customers don’t like to use them. 9 in 10 marketing tools received at least one negative review about their analytics feature set.

However, only 10% of marketing tools received more negative than positive reviews. This small percentage made us cautiously optimistic about the marketing analytics experience.

But upon closer analysis, 30% of all reviews expressed concerns or complaints. This fact spurred us to further examine what customers consider a bad analytics experience.

Most common marketing analytics complaints

Even though it hurts to read negative reviews, they are a valuable opportunity for improvement. The graph below shows what users often mention as a bad analytics experience. Let’s zoom in on the top three complaints.

First of all, 76% of the researched marketing platforms don’t present the data their users want to see. Due to the layout, interface or functionality of the dashboard, customers don’t find the information they need to make better decisions.

Marketing SaaS user quote regarding lack of information in dashboards

A second concern is the ease-of-use of the dashboards. For 70% of the tools, users found the analytics annoying or difficult to use. It often takes too much time to set up a report and get the insights they need.

Marketing SaaS user quote regarding lack of ease-of-use of analytics

Finally, limited customization options are a noteworthy irritation as well. Marketers express their need to create their own reports, tweak the reports they have, etc. This ability would let them deeply explore their data and find granular insights they won’t find otherwise.

Marketing SaaS user quote regarding lack of customization in analytics

Other concerns that often came up:

  • The reports lack a beautiful, modern or nice look and feel
  • The data is unreliable or not accurate
  • The dashboard is cluttered or there is too much data on it

While negative reviews reveal areas of improvement, we shouldn’t forget about positive reviews. Marketers love an easy-to-use dashboard with a clean look and feel. Tools get praised on G2 when the experience saves time and helps marketers take action on their marketing campaigns.

Marketing SaaS user quote highlighting positive aspects of marketing software analytics

Unique selling point for marketing software vendors

Analytics are a visual aid to help sell your product. In fact, 92% of the analyzed marketing platforms advertise analytics features on their website. Slightly more than half of the tools even have a dedicated page to display their analytics feature set.

Example of hubspot pricing model which includes access to analytics and reporting

From the user reviews, it’s clear that marketers care about getting the right insights to improve their marketing campaigns. So it’s no surprise that relevant, interactive analytics are a magnet to attract new customers.

After all, we noticed 46% of the marketing software tools use analytics as a selling point to upsell users to a higher pricing tier. The more value your analytics add for your customers, the more they are willing to pay for it.

The state of customer-facing analytics in marketing

Even though every Marketing Automation and SEO tool we researched offers analytics features, some tools are more robust than others. Marketers want easy-to-use dashboards with a nice and clean look and feel. They dislike dashboards that don’t show the data they need, are confusing or don’t allow for customization and making edits.

If you are a product manager at a Marketing software company, these annoyances are a huge opportunity for you.

Now that you know what users are missing in other marketing software tools, you have the chance to do something about it! When done well, you can stand out against competitors and gain market share.

Our team is ready to help you build an engaging customer analytics experience. Schedule a free consultation or product demo today.

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