In a survey, [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=”null”]only 3 percent of survey respondents said they were realizing the full revenue potential of their customers[/inlinetweet], with almost half (47 percent) saying they were not, 44 percent saying they were working on it, and 6 percent revealing that they simply didn’t know how well they were doing in this area.
Customers are overwhelmingly looking for mobile not only for content and engagement, but also to transact—with mobile commerce representing almost one-third of all U.S. e-commerce, according to Internet Retailer—the fact that [inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”null”]only 5 percent of marketers felt that mobile was a key area of focus in driving customer profitability[/inlinetweet].
As the customer experience becomes more and more important over time—Forbes estimates that by 2020, [inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”null”]customer experience will surpass product and pricing as the key differentiator for businesses[/inlinetweet]—marketing’s ability to deliver integrated, cohesive experiences that delight customers is going to be key to maximizing value and generating customer loyalty.
Customer lifetime value is another blurry area for marketers as nearly half (45 percent) of respondents indicated that they do not have good visibility or accurate valuations around customer lifetime value and retention rates.
While 36 percent of marketers say that the market has become more cluttered and confusing over the last five years—both online and offline—31 percent say that they are able to provide better customer experiences due to the accessibility of customer intelligence that enables them to become more relevant to customers.
Sixty (60) percent of these marketers indicate that they are looking to customer service data (compared to 44 percent of the aggregate); 83 percent are looking to sales data and CRM-based insights (compared to 68 percent of the aggregate); 40 percent are looking to big data analytics (compared to 28 percent of the aggregate); and 49 percent are looking to third-party data and intelligence (compared to 39 percent of the aggregate).
While revenue metrics provide some insight into customer lifetime value, campaign metrics only enable marketers to look at past performance and don’t provide insights into the direction in which customers are headed or how to best move forward. This is likely a large reason behind why marketers are struggling to get an accurate view of their customers, and it is no surprise that marketing’s understanding of customer mindset shifts is low as well.
[inlinetweet prefix=”null” tweeter=”null” suffix=”null”]Marketers from large organizations show a greater proclivity to lean on data to gain better insights around their customers[/inlinetweet], with almost half (49 percent) planning to invest in predictive analytics platforms to maximize customer value in the coming year (compared to 38 percent of the aggregate).
Since the CMO Council’s 2007 study, marketers have been leaning heavily toward personalization to improve customer engagement, but attempts to personalize without having a full understanding of the customer reveal a propensity for marketers to get ahead of themselves when trying to stay ahead of the curve.
