Customers experience a brand as one continuous journey, but the teams managing that journey often operate in disconnected pieces. A survey of 600 marketers measured how connected different team pairings are, from brand and performance marketing to analytics and activation, and the results show a clear divide. Brand and performance marketing remain the most disconnected pairing by far, while analytics and activation, along with content and media, report the highest levels of connection.

Essential Statistics

• 74% of respondents describe brand and performance marketing as disconnected, the highest disconnection rate of any pairing measured.
• 68% describe SEO and paid search as disconnected.
• 53% describe paid and organic social as disconnected.
• Only 19% describe analytics and activation as disconnected, the lowest disconnection rate measured.
• Marketing and sales report a 72% connection rate, while content and media report a 79% connection rate.

Key Takeaways

• Brand and performance marketing showing the highest disconnection rate suggests these two functions may still be operating with separate goals and separate measurement systems, even at organizations further along in other areas.
• SEO and paid search remaining disconnected for a majority of respondents suggests search strategy is still frequently split by channel rather than unified around shared keyword and intent data.
• Analytics and activation showing the strongest connection suggests measurement and execution are the easiest functions to align, likely because they already depend on shared data infrastructure.
• The gap between the most and least connected pairings suggests connection tends to follow data proximity, with teams that already share systems reporting far less disconnection.
• This pattern suggests the biggest integration opportunity for most marketing organizations sits specifically between brand and performance, not across the org chart broadly.

Actionable Insights

• Prioritize connecting brand and performance marketing before tackling other team pairings, since this data shows it as the most disconnected relationship by a wide margin.
• Use analytics and activation as a template for how to connect other teams, since this pairing reports the strongest connection here, likely due to shared data systems worth replicating elsewhere.
• Unify SEO and paid search reporting under a shared keyword and intent dashboard rather than separate channel reports, since over two-thirds of respondents describe this pairing as disconnected.
• Audit which of your own team pairings mirror the most disconnected relationships in this data, brand and performance, or SEO and paid search, and start integration efforts there first.
• Don’t assume strong connection in one area, like content and media, means your broader marketing organization is well integrated. This data shows connection levels vary sharply by specific team pairing.

‘Customers don’t experience your org chart. They experience one brand. If your brand team and performance team aren’t talking, the customer notices before you do.’ – Neil Patel