2014 Australian Digital Insights Report

Transcription

1 2014 Australian Digital Insights Report Creating an authentic customer connection in a cross-channel environment

2 Foreword The start of each year usually begins with reflection, thinking about what best practice means and how it might be delivered. But the rapidly changing consumer landscape has resulted in many experiencing a degree of confusion about what marketing best practice should look like. To delve into the challenges that marketers are facing and hear about their plans to overcome these in 2014, Experian conducted research in December 2013 with over 200 Australian industry leading marketers. It found that marketing professionals are struggling to clearly identify their best customer and can feel overwhelmed by the volume of big data at their disposal. They are also struggling to effectively track the return on investment of their marketing efforts. Our experience in working with leading brands from around the world shows that to achieve best practice, marketers should consider adopting a customer-centric view, which allows them to engage customers seamlessly across multiple devices and channels in real-time. We know that this can be an organisational challenge, but it can be achieved by observing, monitoring and analysing customer behaviour to understand which channels are most effective at delivering tailored and personalised content. The message and the channel it is delivered in should not be generic and is most effective when tailored to speak directly to the needs of specific customer segments. We know marketers are becoming more adept at engaging customers and their efforts should now be focused on adding value at every point of interaction with the brand through a crosschannel approach. We are all deeply aware that consumers have more options than ever and can become quickly disenchanted with the brands that get it wrong. By understanding the preferences and nuances that are relevant to your customers, it becomes more straightforward to deliver an optimum brand experience. This report provides advice on how marketers can start to achieve best practice in response to the continually evolving consumer landscape. Georgia Lennon Marketing Director A/NZ Experian Marketing Services Australian Digital Insights: Creating an authentic customer connection in a cross-channel environment 2

3 Brand experience and embracing cross-channel communication In order to give the customer what they want, marketers are turning to digital platforms, with mobile and social being identified by Australian marketing experts as key areas of opportunity in Their focus will also be to ensure that the customer experience is enhanced across these touch points and this means sending tailored communications and making the journey to purchase as simple as possible. But marketers aren t just using digital platforms to engage customers. A key goal for marketers this year is to achieve seamless integration across mobile, tablet and web as well as traditional platforms. Experian s research found that 89 per cent of marketers will be looking to integrate their communication campaigns across three or more channels in Website, and search marketing were considered the top 3 channels that marketers will focus on this year, with 73 per cent of Australian marketers selecting the website and 60 per cent choosing as their most important channel. Customer centricity requires a real commitment a level of obsession. Successful brands understand this and will begin to adapt their communication strategies, services, loyalty programs and even internal structures and processes to align, giving their customers what they want each and every time. Ashley Johnston, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing, Experian Marketing Services Traditional channels still hold their worth and one in five (21 per cent) said direct mail is one of their top three most important channels. Top channels marketers plan to use for their 2014 campaigns Website (ecommerce) 37 Search marketing 24.4 Online display ads 13.4 Social display ads 22.1 Social media (not paid) 10.2 Mobile app marketing 64.6 All others 1 Digital Marketing in 2014: where marketers are placing their bets, Nadia Cameron, CMO online, 30 January Australian Digital Insights: Creating an authentic customer connection in a cross-channel environment 3

4 Brand experience and embracing cross-channel communication Most important channels identified by marketers Value Count Percent (%) Website (ecommerce) % Search marketing % Online display advertising % Social display advertising 5 3.9% Social media (not paid) % Mobile application % marketing % SMS text messaging 9 7.0% Television % Direct mail % A recent report by Forrester suggests, the more channels marketers embrace, the more programs they ll need to support them 2. In order to achieve marketing best practice, marketers should consider a centralised location or hub through which to connect an increasingly diverse array of channels. is that hub. It is able to act as a middle touch point that allows easier, stronger access to other platforms and that connects all other channels. This is reflected in Experian s research which shows 83 per cent of marketers who currently run crosschannel campaigns said they integrate with two or more channels. Only six per cent stated they do not integrate with any other channels. Print advertising % Radio 5 3.9% Other % Number of channels marketers plan to integrate with for their cross-channel campaigns does not integrate with other channels 5.9% + 1 channel 10.9% + 5 channels 8.9% + 4 channels 10.9% + 3 channels 20.8% + 2 channels 42.6% 2 US Interactive Marketing Forecast , Forrester. Australian Digital Insights: Creating an authentic customer connection in a cross-channel environment 4

5 Key challenges for marketers in 2014 To effectively integrate channels, marketers should strive for a deeper understanding of how their customer wants to be reached and in which channel they are most likely to respond with the brand in their path to purchase. From a marketer s perspective, this means they should be identifying their best customers and considering the wants and needs of these top customers. More than 20 per cent said understanding their customers persona and how this translates into a campaign is one of their top three challenges. One of the other barriers marketers are facing is channel response attribution, technology that enables brands to identify how a customer has responded to communications. Marketers may have a wealth of data at their disposal, however; they are grappling to use it effectively to inform their marketing strategies, including which channels are delivering the greatest return on investment. To reach customers on their path to purchase, marketers linked the following channels with particular objectives: Online display advertising was identified as the best channel for greeting the customer or building brand awareness (46 per cent). marketing was identified as the best for closing or generating interest and foot traffic (49 per cent). Finally, the website for identified as the best channel through which to generate a sale (42 per cent). Experian s research suggests marketers may not be able to draw out behavioural insights from their data sets, with 30 per cent of those surveyed stating they don t understand their customer behaviour, followed by 24 per cent who stated their biggest barrier to cross-channel marketing was linkage no single customer view. This highlights the growing importance of linking online platforms with the overall offline customer experience in order to seamlessly integrate the path to purchase. Top challenges identified by marketing leaders Branding: telling our story, standing out against competitors 63 Data: collecting / managing structured / unstructured data 22.2 Personas: understanding personas / translating them into campaigns 37 CRM: having the correct systems to create / manage interactions 44.4 ROI: tracking / measuring effectiveness of integrated campaigns 37 Organisation: strategically aligning departments to succeed 11.1 Globalisation: ensuring consistency of digital presence 33.3 Advocacy: creating / maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty Australian Digital Insights: Creating an authentic customer connection in a cross-channel environment 5

6 Making sense of data Data is at the centre of any cross-channel marketing practice. It informs the understanding of customers thoughts, behaviours and intent. Although a greater volume and variety of data can lead to a more detailed understanding of the customer, Australian marketers are only just coming to terms with the process and often feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data at their disposal. Sixty three per cent of Australian marketers said understanding big data was one of their top three challenges, which is slightly higher than 61 per cent of US marketers. Marketers need to identify and segment customers by using data collected across every available resource, including marketing channels, CRM systems, pointof-sale (POS), third-party resources, social media and call centre systems. A brand that is able to capture, aggregate and mine big data easily and quickly for deep insights and deliver a relevant message in realtime to its customers, will leapfrog its competition. Forty four per cent of Australian marketers identified the ability to track ROI as their top challenge for One way in which marketers in the US are responding to this is with response attribution technology, which gives marketers a consolidated view of the impact of their multi-channel marketing programs and actionable measurement of the return on their marketing investment. This technology is breaking down barriers to cross-channel communications. Australian marketers will soon become more exposed to attribution technologies meaning they will no longer have to rely on unproven marketing measurement techniques. Top barriers to cross-channel marketing Organisational structure 48.9 Company s current technology 14.1 Too many vendors / agencies 23.7 No clear roadmap: unsure what to do next 30.4 Understanding customer behaviour 34.1 Linkage: no single customer view 25.9 Revenue attribution All others Australian Digital Insights: Creating an authentic customer connection in a cross-channel environment 6

7 Conclusion It is clear that while marketers are on track to achieve marketing best practice, they are still grappling to come to terms with how to use data to identify and understand their best customer, and in turn identify the best ways to reach them. To engage customers, marketers should look to use all tools at their disposal and integrate communications seamlessly across numerous channels. While the medium is of great importance, content and measurement remains key. By adopting a customer centric-view and putting customer needs at the heart of their campaigns, marketers will focus on what makes their customers tick and determine which activities are most likely to generate the desired response from each target audience. Armed with this knowledge, they can develop highly effective, tailored content that speaks directly to the consumer. The final hurdle is for marketers to use new response attribution technologies to accurately measure program effectiveness and ensure they dedicate their budgets to the channels which matter most to their customers. Key focus areas for achieving cross-channel marketing success: 1 Big Picture commitment Cross-channel marketing needs executive stewardship: integrating multiple consumer touch-points requires foundation-rattling change across the entire organisation. Not just marketing but IT, customer service, sales, operations and product development. This can be difficult to achieve, but those who build an effective business case around the need for change reap the rewards. 2 Processes and success measures Put in place the structures, practices, policies and tactics necessary to develop and sustain a cross-channel program. This involves embracing new data-driven metrics into organisational processes to ensure marketing communications are measureable and deliver the results you want. 3 Real-time customer insights Create customer personas that are based on behaviour and preferences. These personas can then be used to create tailored, relevant and timely communications that are delivered across any channel and in real-time. 4 Flexible technology To combat the issues that arise from using disparate data sources, use a single platform to capture data from multiple touch-points and create, execute, manage and monitor multichannel marketing initiatives. Over time, this platform can be used to deliver campaigns across the most effective channels. 5 Harnessing data and analytics In the era of big data, the ability to capture, store, process and access accurate consumer data from multiple touch-points is increasingly important. Being able to make sense of customer data will enhance the decision-making of marketers. Australian Digital Insights: Creating an authentic customer connection in a cross-channel environment 7

8 Experian Australia Pty Ltd. Level 6, 549 St Kilda Road Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia T: (61) F: (61) info@au.experian.com experian.com.au/marketing-services Research Methodology Experian Marketing Services surveyed 200 Australian marketing professionals from B2B and B2C environments across all Industry verticals and major geographic regions in Australia. The findings were used to develop this industry whitepaper on Digital Marketing in Australia. Follow us and join the conversation