A study released this week by Magnetic, a marketing and advertising optimization vendor, suggests that intent data is underused, even by brands which understand its importance.
The study, conducted by Forrester Consulting, surveyed 130 brand marketers in Europe and the United States and also incorporated existing Forrester data. Substantial percentages of those surveyed agreed that understanding consumer intent can enhance competitiveness, and that insights into intent can be derived from available data. Many, however, fell short of fully utilizing intent insights because of practical constraints.
- 81 percent thought analyzing customer data was a valuable way to predict intent.
- 70 percent agreed that historical data could improve the relevance of advertising.
- 64 percent thought that a combination of site-level and search behavior data provided insights helpful in reaching customers.
Nevertheless, respondents reported significant problems in achieving these aims in three main areas:
- Data: Respondents indicated that issues of data quality and data integration hold them back. Fifty-six percent reported inaccurate data, and 49 percent have limited ability to integrate first- and third-party data.
- Technology: Fifty-four percent are unable to integrate intent data into targeting technology. And almost half of respondents lack the technology used to acquire and retain customers.
- Expertise: Fifty-two percent have limited headcount and expertise to use intent data to connect with users at critical points of the customer journey.
Magnetic does offer a solution which aims to use cross-channel customer data to predict intent and deliver relevant advertising messages.
