Commentary

Is Your Reach Longer Than Your Grasp? Study Shows Martech Disconnect

Email campaigns can flounder without the proper technology in place, judging by “When Data Drags You Down,” a new study from Simon Data, conducted by Forrester. 

Of the technical experts polled, 90% say their marketing strategy is well-aligned with their company’s priorities. But the same percentage say they have challenges delivering on those goals. 

Among their strategic challenges are: 

  • Proving return on investment—33% 
  • Keeping up with rapid pace of interactions—32%
  • Difficulty translating customer insights into actionable marketing outcomes—32% 
  • Coordinating messages and interactions across channels and screens—31%
  • Understanding the relative contribution of marketing channels to conversions—29% 
  • Difficulty managing the frequency and volume of communications to customers—29% 
  • Hiring, retaining and organizing marketing staff—28% 

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Then, there are the technical challenges, all of which can impact email marketing:

  • Lack of integration among various marketing technologies—35%
  • Lack of integration among various customer data sources—34% 
  • Duplication of technology/vendors—34% 
  • Disappointing marketing lift/results after onboarding new technology—31%
  • Reliance on legacy systems—30%
  • Not utilizing technology to its fullest extent/not knowing if we’re using it to its fullest extent—29% 
  • Outdated technology—28%

"This study demonstrates the disconnect between what marketers think their martech stacks can do versus the actual outcomes the tech delivers," states Jason Davis, CEO-co-founder of Simon Data. 

Still, brands are moving forwar, and are planning to do the following over the next 12 months:  

  1. Improve customer satisfaction—33% 
  2. Improve the quality of customer data—29% 
  3. Increase revenue per customer—28% 
  4. Improve lead/opportunity quality—27% 
  5. Improve lead/opportunity quality—27%

In addition, most report they are either advanced or extremely so in applying customer data in each of these areas:

  • Targeting—86%
  • Initiating campaigns--85% 
  • Analytics—82%
  • Optimizing experience—80% 
  • Measurement—79% 
  • Conducting analysis/measurement of results—79%  
  • Creating content—76% 
  • Personalization—78% 
  • Completing customer profiles—74% 
  • Experimentation—72% 

Marketing data is the leading form of information used in gaining customer insights:

  • Marketing response/interaction—45% 
  • Identity--43%
  • Transaction—42% 
  • Demographic-42% 
  • Social-media content—41% 
  • Technology ownership/use—41% 
  • Application content—35% 
  • File content—34% 
  • Sentiment—34% 
  • Preference—32% 
  • Journey/activity—26%
  • Situation—26% 
  • Environment—26%

What are the most valuable technology capabilities in achieving marketing priorities? They are: 

  • Customer data integration across every end channel—80% 
  • One-stop, multichannel engagement hub—79%
  • Customer data unification—79%
  • Flexible, data-led customer journey builder—78%
  • “Single-source of truth” customer reporting insights—77%
  • Single view of the customer via advanced identity stitching—77%
  • Streamlined segmentation workflow—77%
  • Robust end-channel personalization based on all data—76%
  • Advanced multichannel experimentation—75%
  • Democratized data access for faster campaign deployment—75%

Forrester surveyed 465 marketing technology decision-makers. 

 

 

 

 

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