Personalized marketing remains a challenge. About half of surveyed businesses admit they’ve got a problem on this front. The CMO Council’s new Measuring Marketing in the Moment report, produced in conjunction with Catalina, reviews the status of and challenges that businesses face in trying to improve personalized marketing, especially in the new economic challenges brought on by COVID-19. 

Personalization and False Starts

CMO analysts report poor returns on many personalized campaigns. For example, some campaigns involve geo-​targeting consumers who are simply walking down the street. The folks who get a promotional message from a vendor for take-​out food may not be interested at that point, especially if it’s delivered at the wrong time of day. However, if they’ve driven into the establishment’s parking lot, a message may be well received.

Similarly, big data combined with real-​time messaging is another way for brands to personalize promotions. Vendors with great consumer purchase history data can roll out a campaign promoting umbrellas to match the recently purchased coat when a three-​day rainstorm is forecast.

How well are marketers doing with these efforts? Currently, about half (49%) know customers’ ‘geographic points of interest.’ Another 36% want that information. And 40% say they understand their customers’ social media engagement and behavior. Fully half of marketers want that capability. And, amazingly, only 55% of surveyed marketers report having previous purchase data on customers.

Here’s how most businesses handle personalized campaigns:

• Connected to go-​to-​market plan for new products 49%
• Based on customer experience strategies 46%
• Based on customer preferences and patterns of past engagement 44%

In most organizations, media mix management in campaigns is usually all about “cost and efficiency, prior budget allocations with modest adjustments, and marketing or media mix modeled sales impact.” Senior managers aren't quite sure how to proceed with personalized outreach.

How to Improve Personalized Marketing

To fix the problems they’re having with personalized marketing, 41% of businesses state they need help measuring engagement and attribution. About 37% don’t have the right people in place to handle these issues. This situation cries out for the help of digital marketing experts. And 34% of businesses realize they must allocate more money to improve the sophistication of their campaigns.

Meanwhile, marketers have very little ability to adjust their campaigns once they begin to run. Even worse, the high-​level decision-​makers don’t yield control to the internal people who know what’s going on. All of these data points indicate that businesses may be open to hiring outside partners to handle their digital personalized marketing initiatives. 

To learn more about how clients are doing with their digital efforts, run a Digital Audit. The tool is available at AdMall from SalesFuel. The information in the report will help you open a productive conversation with clients and prospects.