The data and intelligence gap

• Key findings
• How data is used

• What CMOs need

• Insights and interpretation

The data and intelligence gap

Despite the reducing budget priority, CMO respondents do recognise the importance of data. Unfortunately, data is not yet embedded as a strategic input.

Key findings

Concerningly, only 10% of respondents describe data as being “core and essential”. This finding reflects usage trends – more than half (51%) use data “occasionally or minimally” in their business development and marketing processes.

Centrality of external market data

Respondents rated how central external legal market data and intelligence is to their commercial decision-making.

Purposes for which market data is used

How data is used

By far the leading use of data (75%) is competitive benchmarking, allowing CMOs to understand how their firm is positioned in the market. Fewer than half (44%) are using data-driven client targeting as part of their growth strategy.

Our research also suggests that CMOs may be overlooking a useful tool when pricing services. Less than a third (29%) are using market data and intelligence for this purpose. This could represent a significant missed opportunity for sharpening client offerings and improving retention.

Multiple selections were permitted.

CMOs know that data can help them deliver improved outcomes, but what intelligence do they want most?

Client buying behaviour and service expectations
Competitive benchmarking
Pricing and fee benchmarking
AI adoption benchmarking
Practice group performance insights
CRM and internal intelligence integration

Taken together, the responses suggest that CMOs are looking for actionable intelligence that helps drive growth, retention and commercial decision-making.

What CMOs need

Filling the data gap will help to solve many of the CMO’s most significant challenges. Client behaviour insights are an important tool for targeting new business, but they also help to reveal what existing clients want. The same is true of pricing benchmarks and competitor positioning. More than simply honing messaging for the wider market, firms can sharpen their offering to better engage existing clients and boost retention.

CMOs also need deeper insights into AI, particularly regarding how it is used. AI adoption is fairly universal but none of our respondents identified it as a focus. This means that there is no clear benchmark for what “good” looks like. Market intelligence helps to plug that gap, providing peer insights that allow CMOs to piece together insights that inform and improve their own AI strategy.

Insights and interpretation

The data clearly shows that firms want external intelligence, but that most lack integration to make full use of it. As such, data remains episodic, not strategic.