As customer behaviors change, marketers have had to make some changes and are focused on improving their customer experience. Per the latest report [download page] from Acquia Digital, more than 9 in 10 (94% of) marketers say their organization has changed its digital CX strategy in the last 18 months.
In the past year, marketers have adopted new strategies such as creating more content for customer engagement (49%), diversifying the types of channels they use to reach customers (48%) and trying to unify their CX across channels (48%).
With these changes come challenges. For instance, 8 in 10 consumers say they expect brands to have consistent messaging and appearance on every channel. In response, a little more than half (52%) of marketers have prioritized ensuring the consistency of their brand across channels.
Data Management is a Concern for Some Marketers
Proper use of data is a large factor in the success of a marketing campaign, but some marketers say they lack the tools or technology they need to be successful. To help with this, half of the marketers surveyed say their organizations adopted a customer data platform (CDP) in the past 18 months. Additionally, 45% of marketers have adopted data asset management technology, with companies in the Healthcare, IT and Telecoms and Insurance sectors being the most prevalent users of this technology.
While organizations are focusing on technology that enables real-time delivery and personalization of data and on using better data to create personalized content that serves the customer journey, marketing technology may be holding some marketers back. Two-thirds (67%) say their digital marketing tools hold them back from innovation, and even more (73%) say their technologies prevent them from delivering innovative or creative customer experiences.
Although marketers say they have seen results from personalization efforts – including increased engagement and conversions, as well as better responses to discount offers – keeping up the pace of creating personalized and engaging content has been an issue. The majority (83%) of marketers report that they struggle to create content that can be released quickly on a variety of platforms.
Moving into a Cookie-Less World
Third-party cookie deprecation is a major topic on marketers’ minds. While earlier data from Innovid revealed that 84% of marketers are concerned about a cookie-less future, Acquia found that most (87%) of the marketers they surveyed are fully prepared for it and say collecting first-party data is more important to their organization than it was two years ago.
When it comes to collecting data, research from the American Marketing Association-NY shows that the majority of marketers support asking for consent to collect data related to providing promos or discounts and personalizing products, but don’t think it’s necessary for creating ads or sharing with other companies. Acquia’s survey shows that 8 in 10 (82% of) marketers think consumers trust their company with their personal data. Unfortunately, two-fifths of consumers do not believe all brands handle their data properly. That said, many (81%) say they believe their data will be more private once cookies have been phased out.
Read the full report here.
About the Data: Findings are based on a July-August survey of 800 marketers and 8,000 consumers across Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the UK and the US.
