Dutch companies score poorly on data-driven marketing. Almost no company has a complete customer view, making integrated, one-to-one marketing a bridge too far.
A good three-quarters of Dutch companies do not (yet) have a complete customer view, because online and offline data sources are not integrated. Customer data comes in through different channels and is stored in different systems. A 360-degree view of the customer is missing. This makes an integral and individual customer approach impossible, according to research by Ternair into the state of affairs surrounding data-driven marketing among companies with large customer databases in the Netherlands.
Importance of data-driven marketing recognized
Most companies by far realize how important precision marketing is nowadays. People even link this to the business perspective: with data-driven one-to-one marketing, they rate growth opportunities as (very) good and without as poor. Companies are afraid of losing connection with the (digitizing) customer. Respondents therefore see finding and connecting with customers as the biggest challenge for marketing. Yet data-driven work is not yet given top priority everywhere. The ambition is there, but it is not (yet) carried to the highest level. Executives in particular still doubt the return on investment of data-driven marketing:
How do you assess your company's growth opportunities?
| With data-driven marketing? | Without data-driven marketing? | |
|---|---|---|
| Excellent | 26,8% | 0% |
| Good | 61% | 19,5% |
| Same as last year | 12,2% | 31.7% |
| Bad | 0% | 43,9% |
| Very bad | 0% | 4.9% |
Conditions for data-driven marketing
Business-wide use of data to achieve enterprise goals presents companies with tough challenges. The following key areas can be identified for a data-driven approach.
Customer data and knowledge: what customer data is available and how is this customer data accessed?
Channels and systems: how is information coming in through different channels captured and used in making and maintaining contacts?
Automation: to what extent is dialogue with customers automated?
Real-time information: is the data flow for customer contacts and across campaigns readily available?
Organization: in what way is data-driven marketing embedded in the organization and among employees (knowledge and competencies)?
Strategy: has the company developed a vision to move toward an individual customer approach?
Using customer data difficult due to fragmentation
Nearly all respondents report that leveraging customer data plays an important role in achieving business goals. Ideally, you should have all the information about a customer at your fingertips. Buying behavior, service history, touchpoints in the customer journey, demographic and geographic characteristics.
Customers and prospects want to be approached personally and with relevance. The transition to data-driven marketing requires a major effort. Customer knowledge is typically scattered throughout the organization, and each department has its own interests, data and tools. Therefore, it is not surprising that companies still make little use of data-driven, personalized forms of communication. People now send, to a greater or lesser extent, automated emails that include, at most, the recipient's name and pushed offers.
