• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 14, 2015

According to "The Value of Multichannel Real-Time Segmentation" from The Relevancy Group, marketers that utilize real-time multichannel data generate nearly three times more revenue in their marketing programs than their peers that do not utilize real-time data. Adding automation pushes those results even higher. Marketers that automate customer lifecycle messaging through tactics such as rules-based triggers, drive 133% more revenue than those that don’t.

Email is the most effective channel to drive revenue. 91% of participants view email as the most effective channel to move the sales needle, says the report. Though Email marketers are rapidly expanding their strategies to encompass multichannel tactics, organizational structure, coordination and expertise are limiting opportunities.

Highlights of the Report/Survey Findings Include:

• Nearly a quarter of marketers state they don’t have adequate staffing resources, and marketing organizations remain siloed, preventing marketers from consolidating multiple marketing channels to one vendor. Just 25% of marketers’ state there is central ownership across all marketing channels while 56% of marketers wish to consolidate their vendors across all channels. 
• Marketers are becoming increasingly data-driven. Analytical services that help develop measurement and attribution models are the most valuable services according to 40% of marketers surveyed.
• Marketers lack the tools to capitalize on the explosion of data and marketing touchpoints.  25% of marketers use some form of real time data to drive segmentation and targeting, but the vast majority are not able to centralize customer data from across channels and recognize customers in a single record. 
• Granular measurement of return on marketing spend remains out of the reach of most marketers.  Only 21% of marketers surveyed leverage multichannel attribution models, leaving 79 % to rely on potentially spurious conclusions that fuel poor media buying decisions.

Additionally email is increasingly being used to target consumers based on their behavior online and offline, such as in-store purchases and interacting with display advertising. Email ties the consumer identity together across channels and it is the mechanism utilized to drive real-time segmentation through multichannel data, concludes the report.

More information from the Relevancy Group, and sign-up access to the complete report may be found here.