• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, June 24, 2016

According to Evergage and Researchscape International, the new annual study on the State Of Personalization found that 85% of companies are now implementing some form of personalization. However, most companies’ personalization initiatives barely make the grade, with the majority of marketers (55%) giving their own, and their competitors’ (63%), efforts a grade of “C” or lower.

When it comes to the importance of the marketing initiatives that organizations are implementing, search engine optimization (SEO) is “very” or “extremely” important to 79% of respondents, closely followed by email marketing and content marketing (78% and 75% respectively) and personalization (74%).

55% of respondents from organizations that are not implementing any personalization yet, plan to use website or in-app personalization (web or mobile) within the next year. Of those already using personalization, 89% report an improvement or “lift”, and of those, 53% have seen a lift of 10% or more, relying most heavily on personalized messages or experiences in inline content and information bar, says the report.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is very or extremely important to 79% of responding organizations implementing, closely followed by email marketing and content marketing and personalization of all types.

A majority of organizations surveyed are personalizing email and their website. Only 27% are personalizing their mobile website. Mobile and web applications are the least selected channel for personalization.

The two most-used types of personalized messages are inline content (text or images inserted dynamically within the page content) and information bars (messages across top or bottom of page.) Only 12% of respondents don't use any of the listed personalization message types.

The majority of respondents using website/in-app personalization realize the following benefits:

• An increase in conversion rates (65%)
• Increased visitor engagement (62%)
• Improved customer experience (61%)
• 46% and 45% respectively see increased lead generation and customer acquisition
• 36% reported increases in customer lifetime value/loyalty

The greatest obstacle to making real-time personalization a bigger priority in the respondents’ organizations is the lack of budget, with lack of personnel a close second. Lack of knowledge/skills is the third most common obstacle, says the report.

 The report from Evergage is available with sign-in here.