Report highlights need for cross-channel integration??
??Only 16% of marketing organisations are currently able to combine online and offline marketing activity to maximise sales.
That is one of the main findings in the new Econsultancy and Speed-Trap CRM 2.0 Survey Report on multi-channel strategies. Speed-Trap, a customer insight software provider, says that the vast majority of organisations are now actively looking to capture and integrate the information required into an effective multi-channel strategy.
The research asked over 500 companies and agencies to what extent they had implemented a CRM 2.0 strategy.
The report found that the online market is maturing; that organisations are no longer treating the web as a separate channel but an integral component of overall strategy.
Malcolm Duckett, VP operations at Speed-Trap, commented: “As the online channel takes an increasing mainstream role in revenue generation and customer acquisition, this research reveals that organisations across every market sector recognise the need to improve customer personalisation and cross-channel integration.”
The research found that 83% of organisations either definitely or somewhat put their customers at the heart of their decision making; over a quarter (26%) are committed to creating customer conversations, whilst 25% definitely treat their customers as individuals whether online or offline.
While organisations have been content to deliver marketing strategies based on siloed channel data, the report found that growing numbers are looking to achieve far greater integration. Today, while only 22% of companies can link online and offline data to optimise the user experience, this is the objective of almost two thirds of organisations (64%). In addition, 72% would like to link real-time and historical data; and 73% want to carry out real-time personalisation based on behaviour.
“Traditional web analytics solutions over-promised and under-delivered, leaving too many organisations complacently accepting inadequate web information,” Duckett says. “But the research reveals that organisations are keen to achieve the multi-channel vision and improve personalisation, especially now that the technology required to do so is available.”
Duckett added: “It is extremely positive to see that organisations are now actively looking to leverage the next generation of technology to improve the integration of offline and online information and collect behavioural, aspirational and engagement data. Critically, this data can then be used to drive highly personalised (one-to-one) and innovative multi-channel offers via automated marketing programs and business processes – a scheme that can easily and quickly lead to significantly increased profitability.”