Legacy tools may be costing you more than you think.
But most marketers are still measuring like it鈥檚 2015.
That鈥檚 a problem because old tools don鈥檛 just slow you down, they actively distort performance, waste budget, and erode credibility. Here鈥檚 4 ways outdated measurement strategies are undermining your efforts:
Legacy tools miss the full picture. They can鈥檛 tell you what鈥檚 working across channels, devices, or audience segments. They overlook non-converting behaviors and upper-funnel influence. Without accurate incrementality, you鈥檙e optimizing based on incomplete signals and missing triggers that actually move the needle.
Only 18% of marketers run incrementality tests today. Why? The data鈥檚 messy, the process is costly, and the results aren鈥檛 reliable. So most just guess鈥攁nd pay for it.
Let鈥檚 say you cut ad spend by 30%. Did conversions drop? Did other channels pick up the slack? What really happened as a result?
Legacy tools can鈥檛 answer that. MMMs built on aggregate historical data are slow, backward-looking, and lack granularity. Attribution through CDPs and CRMs rely on personally identifiable information (PII), exposing marketers to privacy risks and regulatory landmines. Even if compliance weren鈥檛 a concern, most of these tools can鈥檛 tell you what鈥檚 not converting or why.
That鈥檚 a major strategic blind spot. You鈥檙e not just missing the full picture. You鈥檙e missing the signal that drives smarter marketing.
If your tools can鈥檛 show true impact, your spend isn鈥檛 strategic, it鈥檚 speculative. You overfund the visible. Undervalue the effective. Misread which audiences matter most. And when budgets tighten, you鈥檙e making cuts without knowing what actually drives growth.
Measurement is how you earn your seat at the table. But if you can鈥檛 quantify performance, defend your investments, or predict outcomes, marketing looks like a cost center鈥攏ot a growth engine. That鈥檚 why two-thirds of CMOs say they struggle to prove the value of marketing to their CEO2 and why many struggle to get the funding they need.
Privacy isn鈥檛 optional. Mishandling customer data鈥攅specially PII鈥攃an violate GDPR, CCPA, and other laws. Many legacy solutions rely on identity-based targeting, exposing you to compliance gaps AI can鈥檛 always catch.
Clean rooms鈥 are one fix but they鈥檙e expensive and don鈥檛 guarantee safety. A smarter move? Shift to privacy-resilient measurement strategies that eliminate the need for personal data altogether.
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2. Gartner, 鈥2024 Gartner Senior Executive Views of CMO Leadership Survey鈥