As a data-driven marketer, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with the volume and variety of consumer data that’s available. You’re dealing with an exponential growth in customer touchpoints — every website visit, ad view, use of a product, and interaction with a customer service representative generates data. And this data is often siloed across multiple systems and departments — even organizations — making it difficult to understand who your customers are, what they’re doing, and what they want. The marketers who excel at engaging and converting consumers take the time to put in place a solid data strategy that overcomes these barriers to success. According to Microsoft research , these marketers best understand the consumer decision journey (CDJ) — and in turn can better market to and convert consumers. Microsoft teamed with Advertiser Perceptions to arrive at this insight through a combination of in-depth interviews and an online survey. What we found is that 2...