Lack of capability an issue

Understanding the customer journey is becoming increasingly important as the number of both digital and offline touchpoints increases. 

But even in organisations that have been developing their digital competencies and tools, analytics and CRM have traditionally tended to be used in isolation, and the 17% figure quoted in the headline seems to confirm that. 

Consumers base their decisions on interactions across multiple media types, devices and locations. This creates a challenge for marketers to interact at important moments that might influence buying decisions.

Yet while 42% of respondents say they are currently working on having the capability to analyse the customer journey, 41% say they are either still in the planning stage or have no plans at all. 

Q: In the context of integrated marketing, how would you describe your organisation’s customer journey analysis capabilities?

Matching channels and content to the customer journey

The natural progression from developing journey analysis capabilities is to implement marketing activities that correspond with the customer journey.

But only 10% of companies surveyed match channels and content to a ‘well-mapped’ customer journey, while the vast majority (64%) only match them to one that is ‘roughly-mapped’.

This latter figure does at least point towards a well-meaning effort on the part of marketers when it comes to joining up marketing activities with the customer journey, and the 10% figure is hardly surprising when only 17% have the analysis capability in the first place. 

As companies develop their capabilities in this area, the important thing to bear in mind is that focusing on single touchpoints can divert attention from the customer’s entire journey. 

Instead, brands should strive to understand the entire relationship from customer acquisition to retention. 

Technology and resources the primary barriers

Clearly marketers are aware of the benefits of properly mapping the customer journey, so what is holding them back?

67% of respondents agree that they lack the systems to effectively map the customer journey, while 64% agree that they don’t have the necessary time or resources. 

The next two most-cited barriers were a lack of data followed by a lack of the required analysis skills. 

Q: Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

These findings are perhaps not all that surprising. Technology, resource and problems with acquiring and managing data are often cited as barriers to achieving success in various areas of digital marketing.

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