Top challenge for marketers is knowing their customers

April 13 Webinar will discuss findings and offer actionable insight

Source: Experian Marketing Services

Experian Marketing Services has released its 2016 Digital Marketer Report. The eighth annual study reveals the challenges, priorities and other key issues impacting marketers worldwide.

This year, the top challenge marketers faced also is their top priority: knowing their customers' needs, wants and attitudes. Thirty-eight percent of marketers cited knowing their customers as their top challenge in 2016, and 52 percent named enhancing their customer knowledge as one of their top three priorities.

Other top challenges indicated by marketers include increasing visibility over competitors and staying ahead of new marketing trends. The integration of technology and collecting, linking and managing data also were key priorities.

"The future of marketing is being driven by sophisticated, channel-agnostic consumers who expect exceptional experiences every time. This reality poses a real challenge for organizations, as consumer intolerance for mediocre brand interactions puts more pressure on brands to leverage their data and technology," said Ashley Johnston, senior vice president of global marketing at Experian Marketing Services. "Today's brand marketers realize the significance of knowing their customers, but it's still problematic. Our research found that regardless of the company size or industry, marketers around the globe still find this to be a top challenge."

Experian Marketing Services surveyed more than 1,000 marketers worldwide to identify the biggest opportunities and challenges for marketers around the world. The annual report benchmarks the key issues that brands face as they try to engage audiences with relevant messages in an often complex digital environment.

Additional findings of interest from the 2016 Digital Marketer Report:

• Eighty-one percent of marketers report challenges in achieving a single customer view
• Enterprises cite making messages contextually relevant as their top challenge
• Seventy percent of respondents work in marketing teams that are integrated either fully or somewhat, up from 61 percent in 2015
• Personalization helps achieve a 158 percent increase in click rate
• Sixty-six percent of marketers plan to implement predictive modeling over the next year and 68 percent plan to run mobile campaigns
• Eighty-six percent of marketers build segmented audiences for paid advertising

"Now in its eighth year, the Digital Marketer Report contains key insights and trends that thousands of marketers have come to rely on every year," added Johnston. "Our research and analysis focus on the areas we anticipate being the most impactful for marketers moving forward — particularly for brands that are committed to surprising and delighting their customers with every interaction."

The full 2016 Digital Marketer Report can be downloaded at www.experian.com/dm16report.