Brands are seeking to boost their operational efficiency and improve customer satisfaction in the near term, according to Social Marketing Leaders Are In Critical Need of Integrated Data And Agile Technology, a study from Emplifi, conducted by Forrester.
Of the companies surveyed, 83% seek to improve efficiency, with 37% placing a high priority on it.
In addition, 82% of marketers surveyed hope to improve their customer (CSAT) scores, 49% say this is high priority. And, 80% state that the need to grow revenue, 36% saying this is of the highest urgency.
Another 78% plan to invest in technology to leverage customer insights, with 47% placing this as a high priority.
The biggest factor impeding them to date is shifting customer demands, 73% say.
In addition, 57% need to integrate customer data, 41% to increase agility and 45% align the goals of departments.
The factors seen as challenging include:
Companies measure success in the following ways:
Looking forward, brands are planning to invest in the following technologies over the next 12 months:
But they are planning to reduce their marketing budgets in these areas during the same period:
The smallest budgets cuts will be for marketing technologies/tools (14%) and social media advertising (14%). Overall, 19% of respondents plan to trim their marketing budget.
Forrester surveyed 154 CMOs, marketing VPs and directors responsible for CX last fall.