LONDON and NEW YORK, June 2,
2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital marketers are facing an
on-going battle getting to grips with the huge amounts of data they
have to work with.
The biggest hurdles and key priorities for marketers this year
are dependent on having accurate, enriched data, linked together in
a central location for a complete customer view, according to new
findings published in Experian Marketing Services' 2015 Digital
Marketer Report.
Linkage topped the list of barriers to cross-channel marketing
success, moving from fourth place in 2014 to first place in
2015.
Eighty-nine percent of marketers say that they have trouble
achieving a single customer view, and a third of those questioned
see effective linkage as the main barrier (32 percent) to creating
a truly cross-channel marketing strategy.
The biggest challenge identified by marketers for achieving a
single customer view is poor data quality (cited by 43 percent of
marketers), followed by siloed departments (39 percent) and the
inability to link different technologies (37 percent).
Experian Marketing Services surveyed more than 1,000 marketers
worldwide to identify the biggest opportunities and challenges for
marketers from around the world. The annual report benchmarks some
of the key issues that brands face trying to engage audiences with
relevant messages, in an often complex digital
environment.
Separate research conducted by Experian Data Quality earlier
this year found that 91 percent of companies are leveraging data
and data quality in an attempt to optimize their customer
experience. However, only 28 percent of companies are creating
real-time triggered messaging across multiple channels with their
data.
To deal with this issue, Experian Marketing Services helps
organizations link data sets together to find unique consumer
insights, significantly improving the way organizations
meaningfully connect with their audiences.
"Consumers demand exceptional brand experiences, but without the
right strategy and technology for collecting, authenticating,
linking and managing all the data coming into an organization
today, brands are unable to meet that demand," said Ashley Johnston, senior vice president, Global
Marketing, Experian Marketing Services. "Accurate, enriched data
allows brands to stand out from competitors, create relevant
interactions based on the deepest understanding of their customers
and build successful customer-acquisition strategies as their
priorities suggest."
"Achieving single customer view is a key step in the right
direction, but fully optimized cross-channel marketing is still the
Holy Grail for marketers around the globe. The in-depth process
required in setting up a strategy presents a range of hurdles, and
there are other important issues to overcome in the process," said
Simon Martin, Experian Marketing
Services, UK. "It takes entire companies working together to get a
better understanding of their customers and to plan an engagement
strategy that will resonate uniquely with each customer at every
point of interaction."
A question of linkage
The 2015 Digital Marketer Report identified several top
barriers to achieving a fully integrated cross-channel marketing
approach: no single customer view (32 percent), companies' current
technology (31 percent) and organizational structure of the
business (31 percent) came out on top.
Around the world
The top challenges for marketers from around the world share
many similarities, but priorities and barriers differ slightly by
region.
UK:
- Single customer view (SCV) and data linkage is seen as more of
a challenge than any other, with nearly two-fifths (37 percent) of
U.K. respondents saying this was their top challenge, beating
organizational structure (33 percent) and the company's current
technology (32 percent).
- United Kingdom marketers are
more likely to believe they understand customer behavior and have a
clear roadmap toward cross-channel success (with only 21 percent
and 20 percent, respectively, identifying these as challenges)
compared to the global average of 25 percent apiece.
Europe:
- The picture in Europe is very
different than the United Kingdom.
In Spain, only 17 percent of
respondents reported the same issue with linkage; instead, the
major problem was identified as the company's current technology
(42 percent) as holding them back.
- French marketers follow a similar pattern and are also more
confident with their grasp of linkage, with 24 percent flagging it
as an issue. Again, technology (38 percent) is the most pressing
concern for French respondents.
North America:
- Organizational structure was identified as the most important
issue in North America, with 38
percent of respondents rating this as their highest priority.
- Respondents also are more likely to say they don't have a clear
roadmap to success (26 percent) than the global average.
Asia:
- In Japan, marketers are
confident in their technology, with only 9 percent seeing this as
an issue. Instead, 44 percent struggle to link data to create a
single customer view.
- Meanwhile, respondents from Australia and New
Zealand identify technology as the largest single challenge
to their cross-channel strategy (35 percent).
The full 2015 Digital Marketer Report can be downloaded
from the Experian Marketing Services Website here:
http://bit.ly/1FEXRS5 along with an infographic highlighting key
findings.
Contacts:
UK and EMEA
Nick
Jones
Head of PR, Experian Marketing Services
07583 297082
nick.jones@experian.com
Matthew Tubbs
Ruder Finn for Experian Marketing
Services
02074383090
mtubbs@ruderfinn.co.uk
USA
Suzanne Blackburn
1 212 863 4648
suzanne.blackburn@experian.com
About Experian Marketing Services
Experian Marketing Services is a leader in data-driven marketing
and is the only company in the world to offer a comprehensive
Marketing Suite that unites customer insights, analytics, data
quality and cross-channel marketing technology into a single
platform. Backed by the industry's highest-rated client
services team, we own and maintain the world's largest consumer
database and provide marketing services and cloud-based technology
to more than 10,000 brands in more than 30 countries. With
significant presence in the world's largest economies and a
portfolio including many of today's most well-known and respected
global brands, we provide enterprises with unique competitive
advantages through marketing services and technology. Our extended
legacy in data security, management and consumer privacy has earned
the trust of organizations and consumers from around the world for
more than three decades. For more information, please visit
http://www.experian.com/marketingservices.
About Experian
We are the leading global information services company,
providing data and analytical tools to our clients around the
world. We help businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud,
target marketing offers and automate decision making. We also help
people to check their credit report and credit score, and protect
against identity theft. In 2014, we were named by Forbes
magazine as one of the "World's Most Innovative Companies."
We employ approximately 17,000 people in 39 countries and our
corporate headquarters are in Dublin,
Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and
is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year
ended March 31, 2015, was
US$4.8 billion.
To find out more about our company, please visit
http://www.experianplc.com or watch our documentary, "Inside
Experian."
Experian and the Experian marks used herein are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other
product and company names mentioned herein are the property of
their respective owners.
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SOURCE Experian Marketing Services