Today, most marketers are turning to customization in order to provide a more effective, robust customer experience (CX).
A new research study from Merkle suggests that businesses are also becoming increasingly aware of the increased demand for personalization. The report titled, “The State of Customer Experience Transformation” indicated the majority of marketers (nearly 80%) believe that their customers care about personalization as “a great deal.”
However, another 17% said that the audience is least bothered about it, “a moderate amount.” As of now, about 34% of marketers claimed they have around three to four channels personalized for the sake of the improved customer experience.
In fact, nearly 33% of brands have between five or six channels personalized, and another 7% have eight and more channels personalized.
As cited in the report, “In embarking on their digital transformations, respondents tend to start with marketing automation or with real-time interaction management/ personalization. Advertising, adtech, and mobile were the least likely places to get started.”
Also Read: ‘Personalization’ Is Not A Game Changer Any More
Basically, within businesses’ transformation journeys, legacy technology, as well as skillset gaps, present the hardest challenges impeding digital transformation across industries. Legacy technology currently is a sticking point for IT teams, more than among marketers or marketing technology professionals.
Marketing personalization leads to overall enhanced customer experience
Even if marketers may be personalizing the customer experience to be successful, this does not indicate that they are taking a customer-first approach for their entire marketing strategy. However, it is a must-have in their digital marketing mix.
Another study by London Research and BlueVenn, titled “Omnichannel Marketing Excellence Report”, revealed that only 17% of marketers have a full customer-first approach in place. This is alongside formal responsibility and a dedicated team to offer CX at an executive level.
In general, most of the respondents (about 31%) reported that they have some readily available customer-centric metrics. This includes a repeat purchase rate, engagement recency, etc. However, they are less important compared to campaign and channel performance metrics.
As mentioned in the report – “Senior-level buy-in is not just a vanity consideration, but rather about the practicalities of strategic change management or business transformation – cultural and structural – across the enterprise.”
Also Read: Developing Marketing Strategies for 2021- Critical Points to Be Aware Of
Certainly, omnichannel customer experiences, advanced technology, and the consumer data that underpin them require cooperation across different business functionalities. This is valid for marketing, sales, operations, finance, and IT.
It is no secret that 2020 accelerated the paths of enterprises into a more digital and customer-centric vision. And 2021 is continuing to jostle priorities in customer experience transformation as the marketplace is dealing with unforeseeable changes and curveballs. The foundations of CX transformation, including data and digital, will now evolve faster and more effectively.
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