Data Proving A Struggle For Marketers Across The Globe
Whether they like it or not, today's marketers need to adopt a number of increasingly technical skills if they are to remain relevant and attractive to employers. But this isn't always easy, and new research has shown that linking and understanding large amounts of data has become a significant challenge for many digital marketing professionals, Net Imperative reports.
According to Experian's 2015 Global Marketer Report, the three main challenges for digital marketers relate to data technology, organisational structure and linkage – the latter of which came top as the biggest barrier to cross-channel success.
Being able to obtain useful and accurate data and then link it all together in one location are essential steps for marketers looking to get a Single Customer View; this is something that the majority (89%) of those surveyed are finding difficult to achieve, as less than a quarter (24%) felt that they had a Single Customer View, the report states.
The biggest obstacle for obtaining a Single Customer View was found to be poor data quality, cited by 43% of the marketers surveyed. This was followed by siloed departments (39%), a lack of relevant technology (37%) and an inability to link various technologies together (34%).
In fact, the report predicts that technology will "transform" the way marketing campaigns are planned and executed in 2015, with predictive analytics and platform-generated attribution coming to the fore. Just over a third (36%) of marketers plan to utilise technology to improve the customer relationship, making the integration of technology to automate, arrange and manage customer interactions a top priority this year.
Similar research by Experian Data Quality found that data now also plays a key a part in improving the customer experience, with 90% of companies using it for this purpose. However, less than a third (28%) are able to use their data to create triggered, real-time messages across a range of channels.
Commenting on the challenge of data, Ashley Johnston - Senior VP of Global Marketing at Experian - noted: "Consumers demand exceptional brand experiences but without the right strategy and technology for collecting, authenticating, linking and managing all the data coming into an organisation today, brands are unable to meet that demand."
Therefore, companies must use accurate and enhanced data in order to stand out from the competition, create more relevant interactions founded on an in-depth understanding of the customer, and develop smarter customer-acquisition techniques.
When it comes to organisational structure, the Global Marketer Report found that 65% of marketers work in teams that are either 'somewhat' (32%) or 'totally' (33%) siloed, which is preventing them from being able to carry out cross-channel strategies. Johnston predicts that savvy organisations will develop better structures and processes that "disable power wars and recognition battles within their own walls."
So in order to get a better understanding of their target audience, and plan an engagement strategy to appeal to each individual customer at every step of their journey, companies and departments will need to work together - not separately.
What do you make of these findings? Do you agree that linking data is the biggest challenge for today's marketer?