CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marketers’ confidence in measurement has plateaued at a time when it should be rising, according to new research from TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) and EMARKETER.

The study, The True Cost of Trust in Marketing Measurement, surveyed 196 U.S. marketers and found that while most (62%) have some confidence in their performance metrics, more than half (54%) reported no change in confidence year over year, and 14% said it has actually declined.

"Marketers have access to more data than ever before, yet effective and trustworthy measurement is getting harder—not easier—to come by," said Brian Silver, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions at TransUnion. "A lot of that comes down to chaos we're seeing in marketing today. More channels and touchpoints create new opportunities, but also new challenges to getting a unified view of marketing performance."

Internal Skepticism Is Putting Budgets at Risk
The research highlights that 60% of marketers say internal stakeholders question the validity of their metrics at least sometimes. Nearly 29% report that up to 20% of their marketing budgets have been reallocated or put at risk due to doubts about measurement accuracy.

Because of that increased pressure, proving performance has become critical: 67% now prioritize incremental ROI, followed closely by aligning marketing metrics to business outcomes (66%) and improving cross-channel attribution (55%).

Fragmentation Undermines Trust
Marketers cited siloed and incomplete data (49%), cross-channel deduplication issues (48%), and walled-garden reporting limitations (41%) as their top barriers to accurate measurement.

"The key to unified measurement is unified data, and that starts with breaking down the walls between systems that were never designed to work together," said Jeremy Rose, Head of Unified Marketing Measurement at Bayer. "Interoperability is the ability for data to move between platforms and systems in a consistent, usable way, and it is no longer optional given the complexity of today’s marketing ecosystem."

Budgets Drive AI Adoption and Long-Term Strategies
With nearly 30% of marketers facing moderate to significant cuts to measurement and analytics budgets, many are turning to AI to sustain capabilities. Half of respondents have adopted or plan to adopt AI or machine learning to automate reporting, with 40% citing data analysis and reporting as the top use case.

At the same time, dissatisfaction with existing measurement technology (26%) is prompting long-term investment: nearly half (47%) plan to increase spend on marketing mix modeling (MMM) in the next year, while 35% expect to increase investment in multitouch attribution (MTA).

"The days of monolithic measurement are over," Silver added. "The most effective measurement strategies are going to feature AI-enabled data collection and data management, which will serve as a foundation for bringing together core methodologies, like MMM, MTA, and incrementality testing."

The full report, The True Cost of Trust in Marketing Measurement, is available now. For more information, click here.

About the Survey
This survey was developed and fielded by EMARKETER in collaboration with TransUnion in July 2025. It surveyed 196 US marketing professionals to understand their confidence in marketing measurement, identify key challenges, and gauge the adoption of specific measurement methodologies.

About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)
TransUnion is a global information and insights company with over 13,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries. We make trust possible by ensuring each person is reliably represented in the marketplace. We do this with a Tru™ picture of each person: an actionable view of consumers, stewarded with care. Through our acquisitions and technology investments we have developed innovative solutions that extend beyond our strong foundation in core credit into areas such as marketing, fraud, risk and advanced analytics. As a result, consumers and businesses can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good^® — and it leads to economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for millions of people around the world. http://www.transunion.com/business