The relentless stream of data left by customers online offers companies the opportunity to increasingly optimize customer interactions. But that's easier said than done. The benchmark survey by data-driven marketing agency Ternair shows that many organizations are struggling to integrate data.
There is no shortage of data in the media sector, but how can you use it optimally in one-on-one communications? That's the big question many organizations are struggling with, according to the third benchmark survey conducted by IJsselstein-based data-driven marketing agency Ternair. Customer behavior is changing rapidly, as are their needs. And customers don't wait; if their supplier is unable to deliver what the customer expects, they switch just as easily. The competitor is one click away.So the challenge is to get the sharpest possible picture of the customer. With a 360-degree customer view, organizations can respond in a personalized and real-time manner to changing customer needs. That is precisely where the problem lies for many organizations. Asked about the most important agenda items for executives in 2017, more than three-quarters of the benchmark survey respondents said that building customer satisfaction and customer retention is No. 1. At No. 2 is digital transition, well short of the first agenda item: this topic was mentioned by just under half of respondents.
Data integration
So it is clear where the priorities lie. Most organizations, including those in the media sector, now have extensive and diverse customer databases. Online, for example, for e-mail newsletters or based on e-commerce activity, and offline, for example, subscription files. Sometimes these files are integrated, often not, which makes it difficult to run integrated campaigns. Moreover, as a result of this lack of automation, the campaigns cost a relatively large amount of time and manpower. The return on campaigns is therefore too low.Many organizations are well aware of these shortcomings. Asked about the most important marketing challenge, survey participants put automating the marketing process at the top of their wish list (48 percent). In second place, they want to build and retain their customer base (41 percent), followed by the desire to have data available in real time to better respond to customer behavior (38 percent) and to get more return on the existing marketing budget (also 38 percent). Furthermore, 31 percent of respondents said they want to better integrate online and offline data. 'Only if we can do marketing based on customer behavior and profile are we able to fulfill their needs in such a way that we get sales and loyalty in return,' said one of the respondents.'
Combined channels
As compared to the two previous benchmark surveys, there has been a slight shift in the channels that organizations use to engage with their customers. Favorites are still e-mail (100 percent) and social media (93 percent), but companies are increasingly succeeding in using their own website environment (76 percent) and mobile applications (52 percent) as well. And direct mail, postal mail, is also still an important marketing channel, at 72 percent. However, marketers still struggle to use these channels together, from one integrated system, in communicating with customers. Email (59 percent) and direct mail are still the most successful. With other channels, such as website visits and social media (both 28 percent), this is much less successful. Of the respondents, 28 percent say they are not yet able to work in an integrated way at all. In other words, they cannot run a single campaign across different, combined channels.
