• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, July 10, 2013

Behavioral data remains the greatest untapped asset, even for search engine marketers. Only 45% of marketers collect, consolidate, and integrate pools of data into one database to get a better picture of potential and existing customers, according to a Forrester study.

The Forrester Consulting study -- Use Behavioral Marketing To Up The Ante In The Age Of The Customer -- commissioned by Silverpop found that while marketers who leverage buyer insight and data in their campaigns experience significant benefits, behavioral data remains the greatest untapped marketing asset, with only 45% collecting actionable data.

The May 2013 study, released Wednesday, surveyed 157 U.S. marketing professionals on their use of behavioral marketing automation to deliver campaigns. Forrester analyzed how marketers use automation with buyer behavioral data to drive engagement across multiple channels.

Behavior drives decisions. Although it varies, today's buyers control their purchase journey. Many travel between 65% and 90% of the way through before reaching out to the vendor. For many product categories, buyers now put off talking with salespeople until they are ready for price quotes or delivery terms. Many times I will buy online to avoid that last step until I'm ready.

One of the more interesting findings points to what improvements marketers might make if their respective organizations could generate specific actions based on consumer behavior. Some 44% said they could improve revenue attributable to marketing activities between a 1% and 10% improvement, followed by 28% at between 11% and 20%, and 10% at 21% or more, respectively.

Forrester found that having the ability to capitalize on consumer behavior produces better overall results, with B2B behavioral marketers attributing 34% of their total sales pipeline to behavioral marketing -- nearly 10% higher than their peers at 26%. B2C behavioral marketers attributed 26% of their revenue achieved to their behavioral programs, with peers at just 21%.

Some 40% of survey respondents said they were "somewhat aggressive or at the forefront" when it comes to technology adoption. Another 32% said they adopt technology in sync with wider marketplace adoption rates. Only 18% said they typically lag behind the mainstream in their adoption of technology.

When it comes to automation, only 29% of respondents report they do not use any automated marketing campaigns -- about 27% of B2B and 31% of B2C marketers. Only 21% of top performers and 16% of behavioral marketers do not execute automated marketing campaigns.

Overall, two-thirds of marketers execute more campaigns after moving to an automated campaign strategy. B2B and B2C marketers were close to this average at 65% and 62%, respectively. It turns out that 72% of top performers, 71% of the behavioral marketers, and 73% of the early tech adopters run more campaigns.

The study details findings on automation, metrics and performance, and describes how behavioral marketing improves the odds for success.