• by Ben Frederick  @mp_benfred, October 7, 2015

According to a new report commissioned by IgnitionOne from Forrester, “Orchestrating The Cross-Channel Experience: How Changes To Data And Measurement Foster Cross-Channel Success,” marketers are not assembling the necessary pieces of the cross-channel marketing puzzle at the rate they should.

Currently, only 27% of marketers are capable of measuring the user experience across channels and devices. However, 74% of marketers feel their organizations are either successfully or very successfully executing cross-channel marketing campaigns.

Less than 30% use cookies to track customers across touchpoints, showing that siloing of channels still remains.

Part of what’s holding many marketers back is a lack of data to direct decision-making, but that data has to come from somewhere. Cue the IT counterparts, who, Forrester says, needs to be closely aligned with marketers in order to achieve cross-channel success. 95% of marketers in the study reported that they have a collaborative relationship with their counterparts in IT.

Strong IT relationships beget more advanced data through more sophisticate technologies, the study says.

And better silo integration leads to higher revenue.

According to the study, “Marketers from companies that have experienced high revenue growth (10% or more) in FY2014 are more likely to currently execute cross-channel initiatives, collect cross-channel data, and utilize holistic measurement KPIs.”

The other aspect holding many marketers back is apparently the culture of their companies: 67% say that their employees do not understand how their tasks tie into larger cross-channel goals, and that managers of different channels coordinate to set joint KPIs.