Even though most marketers believe they understand their customers well, many are not realizing key milestones that indicate that they do, in fact, understand their customers’ journeys, according to Harte Hanks digital agency 3Q Digital.
The report, “Modern Marketers: Addressing Today’s Three Biggest Challenges to Growth,” which surveyed 315 senior marketers, found 87 percent of respondents said they believe that they understand the motivations of their target customer, yet slightly more than half (54 percent) have successfully mapped their marketing activities to the customer journey. 3Q Digital said this disparity suggests that customer centricity is not being achieved as well as marketers might hope.
So what are the roadblocks to truly understanding those customer motivations?
Data, an essential tool for building effective customer relationships, continues to be a huge challenge for marketers. The report found that 46 percent of marketers report being dissatisfied with the amount of data available to them, and more than half (57 percent) aren’t satisfied with the effort required to gather different types of data. Meanwhile, data that is more accessible is considered less influential than the data marketers aren’t able to access, such as desired customer outcomes and marketing ROI.
The study also pointed to structural challenges for marketers. Two-thirds said they wouldn’t describe their own departments as integrated or efficient, while only 54 percent are able to measure return-on-investment.
“These statistics highlight that marketers are not as effective as they could be with greater integration, efficiency and knowledge on their ROI,” the company said.
Weak strategic relationships with agencies also contribute to the problem. Seventy-nine percent of client-side marketers who work with an agency said they wanted their agencies to push back when they didn’t agree with a set strategy, but only 45 percent found the amount of pushback they received to be satisfactory.
“The results suggest that marketers are looking for their agencies to take a stronger stance in recommending strategic changes for a more successful relationship,” the report said.