There is no doubt that businesses are operating in far more complex and customer driven environment than they have ever done before. Marketers are faced with a range of big challenges that they need to overcome if they are going to be successful in engaging the right customers with the right message.
With this in mind, I was very interested to read through the findings of this year’s Digital Marketer Report. Experian Marketing Services surveyed over 1,000 senior marketers from around the globe - to identify the biggest opportunities and challenges that they face in the year ahead.
The survey found that both the biggest hurdles and priorities for marketers are dependent on having accurate, enriched data, linked together in a central location for a complete prospect and customer view. Linkage topped the list of barriers to cross-channel success, moving from fourth place in 2014 to first place in 2015.
89% of marketers say that they have trouble achieving that Single Customer View and a third of those questioned see effective linkage as the main barrier (32%) to creating a truly cross-channel marketing strategy. Furthermore, the biggest challenge identified by marketers for achieving a Single Customer View is poor data quality (cited by 43% of marketers), followed by siloed departments (39%) and the inability to link different technologies (37%).
Enhancing the customer experience
Data remains the mainstay of creating a complete customer view. Without a winning strategy and the right technology for collecting, linking and managing all the structured and unstructured data coming into an organisation today, brands will not be able to create customer experiences that will hold the customer’s attention in today’s cross-channel environment.
The data quality issue is something that has come up time and time again, which perhaps unsurprising is given the vast amounts of data businesses now have to deal with. Separate research on the ‘Dawn of the CDO’, published earlier this year, found that 91% of companies are leveraging data and data quality in an attempt to optimise their customer experience. However, only 28% are creating real-time, triggered messaging across multiple channels with their data.
Without accurate, enriched data, brands won’t be able to stand out against competitors, create relevant interactions based on a deep understanding of their customers, or build successful customer-acquisition strategies as their priorities suggest.
Getting Cross Channel right
Achieving Single Customer View is a key step in the right direction, but fully optimised cross-channel marketing (CCM) is still the Holy Grail for marketers around the globe. The in-depth process required in setting up a strategy presents a range of hurdles and there are other important issues to overcome in the process. It takes entire companies working together to get a better understanding of their customers to plan an engagement strategy that will resonate uniquely with each customer at every point of interaction.
Problems arise if messages are not aligned across channels. Silos need to be broken down and all marketing efforts must be fully integrated to allow marketers to interact with customers quickly and effectively, delivering a positive experience that makes a lasting impact, to the benefit of both the customer and the brand.
Furthermore, marketing technology needs to be considered as a strategic asset and decisions on what is required and what isn’t need to be taken on a strategic level. There might be a lot of money available to spend, but you simply cannot have everything.
Data’s impact on CMOs
Due to this level of choice and the need for a strategic approach to technology decisions the role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is changing. It’s becoming more strategic and data-led and this trend will continue in 2015. Marketers are striving to link data assets together, to better understand behaviours and attitudes, and to inform intelligent interactions – it’s no surprise marketers are becoming more like analysts.
CMOs have to make strategic decisions based on what they need to achieve and what solutions are best placed to get them closer to that goal. Marketing technology needs to be considered in the same breath as advertising technology, the two are becoming so close the differences are almost imperceptible. Money needs to be spent where it will provide value and return of investment.
Regarding a company’s approach, there’s a big choice to be made from a technological point of view. Do they go with a monolithic block of software that can do everything or something that is more of a suite? Where do they want data stored? Small tech firms may have the capacity to be smart and flexible but they’re potentially less secure so it’s imperative companies can trust those they hand data to.
Looking at overall business strategies, it seems that companies need to invest. Invest but budget. Right down to individual channel level. CMOs have to start becoming more strategic. Planning where to invest money is crucial because while there’s a lot of interesting things happening out there, no one can afford to buy it all or deliver it all at once. Prioritisation is the key. Don’t approach the market with a ‘what do we need’ perspective. Approach it from the top down – what is the business concerned about and what marketing technology is there to solve that problem?
By Simon Martin, Managing Director of Cross Channel Marketing at Experian Marketing Services UK.
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