With a plethora of marketing technology at their fingertips, many marketers have a hard time prioritizing what to invest in—especially for businesses attempting to become more customer-centric and digitally focused.
New research from marketing applications and services company Teradata shows that marketers are often too reliant on gut instinct, as opposed to data, when it comes to making budget decisions—which can leave the customer experience in the lurch.
To get to the bottom of this gut versus data conundrum, Teradata—working with Econsultancy US—surveyed more than 400 digital marketing leaders at global enterprises on trends in the marketplace, as well as their strategic priorities around future technology investment.
The report, “Enterprise Priorities in Digital Marketing,” showed that 62% of respondents rank improving customer satisfaction paramount in the decision to invest more in technology. Being more customer-centric is the second priority, 49%, for respondents. In addition, about half of the respondent organizations cite full integration with other technologies as their top criteria for new technology adoption.
High priorities for personalization and customer-centricity are pushing technology investments, according to the study. Thirty-two percent of respondents consider personalization a top priority, but fewer than 20% are acting on it in real time in day-to-day affairs. Yet, 47% admit that improving the customer experience is the main benefit of personalization programs, the study showed.
Teradata’s research also touched on the role that data-driven decisions and digital marketing investments play in bettering customer engagement and building long-term relationships. Investments are trending upward looking into the future, but the biggest emphasis, the study says, will continue to be on digital and toward personalization. By 2019 the average investment in digital marketing will be approximately 40% of companies’ total marketing revenue—up from 25% today. Also:
- 2015 digital marketing budgets will increase in mobile, content, and display advertising.
- Segment-level and real-time personalization are the capabilities that will receive more attention in the coming years.
- Companies expect their digital investment to reach 40 to 50% of their marketing budget by 2019.
“Strategic direction is only as powerful as the investment that supports it,” said Darryl McDonald, president, Teradata Marketing Applications, in a press release. ”We’ve been talking about personalization for years. Now, through digital marketing, custom analytics, and marketing as a service the appetite is real, and true personalization is the future. Only a customer-centric strategy that combines technology and data can deliver sustainable opportunities for businesses to drive top-line growth through continuously more personalized data-driven marketing strategies.”
