Inadequate budgets are the biggest obstacles to implementation of truly data-driven customer strategies, cited by 54% of marketers responding to a new CMO Council survey [download page]. Challenges associated with internal cultures are also proving impediments: 43% cited a failure to fully embrace a customer-centric culture, and 32% feel it’s due to a lack of senior-level support to spark change.
CMOs’ Role in Data-Driven Strategy
Marketers have differing views on what they believe the role of the CMO should be in the development, deployment and optimization of a data-driven customer strategy. A plurality feel that CMOs should be the catalyst to rally the entire organization around the customer (34%). Yet the remaining two-thirds of respondents are equally divided between thinking that the CMO should: guide the organization toward a data-driven approach without owning the entire experience (22%); lead the development and optimization of the data-driven customer strategy (22%); and drive business growth through robust customer experiences, regardless of which function owns the end execution points (22%).
On an encouraging note, fewer than 1 in 10 feel that nobody wants to actually own the responsibility of driving the customer agenda.
Organizations’ Current Strategies
Many respondents reported on the state of their organizations’ current strategies for developing customer engagement and experiences as being somewhat fragmented or scattered across different teams or groups, and at times, lacking a cohesive and collaborative effort. Only 15% said they are working on connecting campaigns together into connected and data-driven experiences across both physical and digital touch points.
Given that marketers have been growing more confident in the future growth prospects for data-driven marketing over recent years, it’s important that they find ways to overcome these challenges.
About the Data: The data is based on an online survey fielded in the first quarter of 2017. Some 263 marketers participated, the majority of whom hold senior positions in marketing, and are from organizations with more than $500 million in annual revenue.
