Knowing your customers: that’s the crux of the matter! However, a study by the company Braze reports that only 30% of companies have a global customer data tracking platform and 6% of marketing professionals leverage this to create personalized experiences.
On paper, many companies declare that they place the customer at the center of their priorities. But the reality is more complex since less than a quarter (24%) of global brands actually track the behavior of their customers. According to analysts, it is the corporate structure that is lacking here. The consumer interacts via social networks, emails, customer surveys, the website, etc. and even if companies have customer managers or experts of all kinds per department, cross-channel does not exist.
Compartmentalization is far from being the solution, yet it is the reality in many companies. One in two marketers say they depend on siled solutions to manage the customer experience. But why this?
The structure of companies has not evolved for decades and is based on a mode of working in silos. Each service is therefore cut off from the others, it thus evolves in its own little bubble with its own tools and sometimes very different objectives. Problem: how to implement a global strategy powered by multi-channel customer feedback in this situation?!
Beyond reorganizing businesses, one of the solutions today is none other than artificial intelligence. 99% of those questioned also say they use it for different purposes: finding creative ideas (48%), automating repetitive tasks (47%), optimizing strategies in real time (47%), improving analysis data (47%), power predictive analysis (45%), create personalization campaigns (44%).
But here again, good old habits are stubborn. Less than half of marketers want to harness the potential of AI to improve customer engagement. There are two reasons for this ! The first is obvious: fear of change. The second is linked to the first since it concerns the lack of training on the subject.
It’s a bit like social networks in the end. Companies initially believed that all marketing professionals would understand their logic and get to it naturally. But no, it took time, training, budgets and adapted tools.
With the latest developments in AI, the machine is more than in motion. Today, 50% of marketers surveyed say they export customer feedback to analytics solutions. According to the professionals surveyed, there are still a few obstacles to overcome to fully develop new strategies and ideas:
- 42% believe that too much emphasis on KPIs harms creativity,
- 42% say they spend too much time performing redundant tasks,
- 41% believe that there is a lack of technology to implement creative ideas,
- and 40% explain that it is difficult to value the return on investment of creativity.