• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, November 5, 2020

Most brands have turned to customer data platforms (CDPs) to target email and other forms of messaging. But many fail to provide a seamless experience, according to SMS play a large Omnichannel Marketing Excellence, a global study by London Research in partnership with BlueVenn.

The question is critical, given that 79% of firms have seen an increase in online customer interactions during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Of the companies polled, 39% of the firms polled have basic integration between their website and ecommerce channels and triggered/follow-up emails or mobile communications. 

But only 29% offer a seamless experience across digital channels, and a mere 9% do so both online and offline.

The difference is in CDP use. If you accept these findings, 36% of brands with CDPs offer a seamless digital experience, compared with 20% of those that do not have a CDP.  

But 29% of those with a CDP have only basic integration between their website triggered/followed up emails, and so do 57% of non-CDP users.  

Overall, 63% of the firms polled have CDPs, up from 51% at the start of 2019.  

How well have marketers synchronized the channels? The study found that: 

• We have synchronized/coordinated customer journeys across offline and digital channels that flow over a period of time and are triggered by customer behaviors — 32%
• We have synchronized/coordinated offline and digital campaigns in a single burst of activity (e.g. direct mail or telephone and email, mobile etc.) — 18%
• We have synchronized/coordinated digital campaigns in a single burst of activity (e.g. email and mobile) — 21%
• We manage all outbound channels independently from each other — 29%

Here’s how they plan their outbound communications:

• We use customer journey mapping to design integrated, omnichannel customer experiences across the customer lifecycle and at every touchpoint — 21%
• We use customer journey mapping to design outbound, digital contact programs that respond to customer needs, actions and behaviors over time — 24%
• The outbound digital teams plan campaign activity across all digital channels — 34%
• Each outbound channel team (e.g. email, SMS and mobile) plans activity independently — 21%

The stats show that 32% of firms using a CDP significantly outperformed their main marketing goals in the past 12 months, versus 14% of firms lacking a CDP.  

In addition, 53% of companies deploying a CDP achieved their goals, compared with 69% of those without a CDP. 

Meanwhile: 18% of transactional businesses—those that sell directly through stores or online — have synchronized online and offline campaigns, as have 16% of non-transactional firms. And non-transactional brands are more likely to be siloed. 

The study asserts that CDPs provide a single customer view across email, SMS, mobile, web and DMP. 

London Research and BlueVenn surveyed 235 organizations with revenue of at least $50 million.