Four-in-five marketers (81%) can’t easily access the data they need to execute impactful campaigns

• New research reveals inadequate funding is another limiting factor, impacting the performance of over two-thirds (68%) of marketers
• Together, these two barriers are causing over two-fifths (44%) to class their personalisation efforts as ‘unsophisticated,’ hampering their ability to drive customer retention

LONDON, 9 January – Research of senior marketing professionals working in UK-based B2C brands has uncovered 81% of marketers can’t easily access all the customer data needed to inform targeting and personalisation, impacting the effectiveness of their campaigns and their ability to drive business growth. 

The research, conducted by customer data technology platform Plinc, reveals the extent to which marketers are being hindered by inoperable customer data. Nearly two-thirds (61.5%) revealed their core customer data is updated once per week or less frequently, diminishing the relevance and impact of their campaigns. 

With inflation rates at a 15-year high causing business costs to soar along with the prices consumers pay, personalisation has become a lynchpin for increasing customer retention rates. Yet, disjointed and inaccessible customer data is affecting these efforts, with over two fifths (44%) believing their personalisation is unsophisticated – impacting the effectiveness of campaigns.

As a result, only 23% of marketing professionals strongly believe senior leadership recognises customer marketing’s impact on business growth, with ‘proving their value to protect budgets’ reported as their greatest source of stress. Furthermore,  inadequate resources and funding are restricting over two thirds (68%) from driving business growth. 

The lack of resources means over a third (36%) of marketers admit they’re still four or more years away from achieving a true customer-first approach – despite companies which put their customer first being 60% more profitable than those who don’t. 

Stuart Russell, Chief Strategy Officer at Plinc, said: “Ultimately, the lack of access to customer data has made the role of customer marketing fraught with uncertainties, challenges and stressors. Yet, there is a way marketers can alleviate the concerns keeping them up at night. 

It starts with marketers educating businesses on the wider value of customer data. Not just for marketing activity – but for product development, customer experience initiatives, customer support and beyond. Through instilling a true ‘customer-first’ mentality throughout a business, marketers can start to optimise their campaigns whilst also demonstrating business impact.”

Please find the full report here.