Only a customer-centric strategy that combines technology and data can deliver sustainable opportunities for businesses to drive top-line growth through continuously more personalised data-driven marketing strategies.
The largest marketing organizations in the world have concluded that enhancing customer relationships via multiple digital channels best supports sustainable growth and reliable retention.
This focus on thoroughly understanding the customer through data, and acting on insights found in data to design interactions, is driving an unprecedented demand for technology. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of respondents view improving customer satisfaction as the top reason to invest more in technology. Becoming more customer-centric is a Top Two priority for 49% of respondent organizations.
Customer data provides key insights about behaviour and preference, yet data integration and access remain a challenge. Marketers must align an array of capabilities to capture and manage customer data. A key challenge is making technology and data work together at scale and across corporate functions. Nearly 50% of organizations cite full integration with other technologies as their top criterion for new technology adoption,
High priorities for personalisation and customer-centricity are driving technology investments. 32% of enterprises consider personalisation a top priority, although fewer than 20% are executing on it real-time in day-to-day business. Still, 47% acknowledge that improving the customer experience is the top benefit of personalisation programs.
For 2015 digital marketing budgets will increase in mobile, content and display advertising. Mobile will continue to be an area of emphasis, with 34% of marketing leaders saying they plan a significant increase for 2015. Content marketing and display advertising round out the top three planned areas of increase. At the other end of the spectrum, paid search budgets will continue growing but incrementally, with 37% planning some increase, but only 14% predicting a significant one.
Artificial Intelligence for Life 