REQUIRED READING POST

It’s no secret that the last few years have upended the way customers want to interact with companies. Digital engagement has led to higher customer expectations, bigger demands and about a million more choices if one brand doesn’t deliver. Privacy laws and changes by tech companies have marketers scrambling to get the data they need to meet customer expectations.

The rise of the data-driven marketer has propelled the marketing function beyond branding and into the realm of customer experience and revenue growth. Before marketers can succeed in their new role, however, they must first solve the customer data conundrum.

Earlier research by CMO Council showed that a whopping 60% of marketers aren’t happy with the depth and granularity of customer insights, while 36% don’t even have the data to know their customers.

Our latest CX report, free to read currently, ‘Cracking Tomorrow’s CX Code’, shows real-time customer intelligence for exceptional experience. Chances are your CX strategy is crying out for a modern makeover. Our study found that more than 60% of marketing leaders say the digital customer journey has dramatically changed their CX strategy. Worse, nearly two-thirds aren’t very confident in their CX strategy’s ability to win and retain customers in this new environment.

The challenge is to orchestrate a great customer experience that hits all the right notes, from digital self-service to meaningful personality to privacy and trust to seamless omnichannel, including a “hybrid” blend of physical and digital experiences. The CMO Council and SAS embarked on an extensive study to understand where CX gaps and opportunities lie. We looked at CX from various perspectives and compared mature CX capabilities between top and bottom performers.

Our findings are based on a survey of more than 1,000 marketing leaders and a survey of more than 2,000 consumers across the globe. Additionally, we conducted 10 in-depth interviews with executives from companies such as AT&T, Pfizer, FedEx, Standard Chartered Bank, Hitachi Vantara, Globe Telecom, Red Wing Shoe Company, and Mars Wrigley.

Integrate customer data

Our previous CX report, ‘Forging the Future of Customer Experience‘ advises marketers how to build a unified data foundation for turning customer insight into action, so that marketing leaders can learn how to start cleaning up the data house, integrate customer data, scale customer insights, turn insights into action, and build the customer-experience culture.

This report, produced in partnership with Teradata, is based on market research and in-depth interviews with executives from Ameritrade, Cisco, Comcast, Constellation Research, Gap, HSBC, Juniper Networks, Rodan+Fields, Visa and Vodafone. 

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Strong CX ecosystem

CMO Council report, ‘Customer Experience Dynamics’ deals with defining the requirements for a strong CX ecosystem. According to this study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council—conducted in partnership with SAP Customer Experience and SellingPower magazine—customer experience (CX) lacks coordinated, centralized leadership in most enterprises.

Functional heads that should have a vested interest in owning CX simply don’t. Only 7 percent of sales and 9 percent of marketing leaders view themselves as lead custodians of CX. While both agree on a common definition of customer experience, only 14 percent of sales and 12 percent of marketing leaders believe their organization’s ability to actually deliver connected, personalized, contextual experiences is exceptional.

This report calls for greater CX leadership and vision from senior sales and marketing stakeholders. According to the 169 marketing and 198 sales leaders surveyed, customer data and intelligence are still currently sitting in siloes across the organization, with few respondents revealing they have full access to a unified, 360-degree view of the customer.

To learn more about the requirements of a true customer experience ecosystem, download the complimentary report today. An accompanying infographic is also available.

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The report, ‘Variance in Customer Experience’ shows marketers how to realize customer affinity from optimized content delivery. For example, what would you learn if you sent out customers to experience every touchpoint of your brand? In this CMO Council study, consumers were sent out to do just that... from brand-owned and controlled channels to channel partners, local points of sale, advertising and even sponsored events.

What was assessed was the clarity and consistency of message, brand and vision. Brands thought to be most valued and visible faltered in delivering messages and experiences that held true to their own stated vision and values. Yet other brands, holding true to the very fabric and essence of their brand, held true across a multitude experiences.

The final result is a comprehensive audit of individual channels of content delivers, along with an overall ranking that aggregates all touch points to create one final score that assesses the totality of the customer experience.

A free executive summary is available of this report