Research Finds Interactive Engagement Requires New Thinking
Respondents from six in ten organizations surveyed by marketing platform provider Alterian feel one-to-one engagement requires new ways of creating content, and a similar amount said existing techniques for understanding consumers needs required significant improvement.
Twenty-seven percent of respondents said social media was the channel that has had the most influence on the customer experience in the last twelve months. Nearly half (48%) expect it to have the greatest effect on the customer experience in the next year. In terms of return on investment, however, over a quarter of respondents (28%) cited e-0mail as the channel that delivered the greatest ROI and the second most popular channel (20%) for investment in the next twelve months.
The research also revealed:
46% of respondents felt that strategy was the most important factor in defining the customer engagement agency
25% stated that the top obstacle to overcome in online marketing was the integration of online with database marketing and offline channels
The lack of ability to assess or manage internal infrastructure and culture challenges (25%) and the integration of all the technology to power the cycle (20%) were identified as the biggest factors in implementing the customer engagement cycle.
The research study took place among over 200 marketing professionals at Alterian’s Engaging Times Summit in August 2009.
