Today, Signal is releasing an important new study benchmarking the progress that marketers around the world have made toward attaining the coveted single view of the customer. The report is called “Preparing for Cross-Channel Success: Solving the Identity Puzzle,” and it reveals this prized goal remains stubbornly out of reach for all but a mere 6% of marketers.
It’s not that marketers don’t care about having a complete picture of their customers’ journeys. Of course they do. The study found that 9 in 10 marketers consider a single view of the customer important or essential to their success. They know that having a panoramic view of the customer’s behavior across channels and devices is incredibly valuable, that it will empower them to create great customer experiences and market more efficiently—and that’s why the topic of identity is drawing so much attention and discussion right now.
But in today’s innovation-crazed, fast-changing marketing environment, it often seems like they’re chasing a moving target. It’s just plain hard to collect the right data from the right cross-channel sources, and merge it into unified profiles across the many platforms and toolsets brands are using to interact with customers and store customer data.
And it’s increasingly complex given all the great new technologies that are constantly appearing in this vibrant industry—from beacons to new social tools to emerging payment methods, and more. These exciting tools offer new ways of engaging with consumers, but they can also complicate the data fragmentation issue.
Marketers know that creating a single view of the customer won’t happen overnight. Instead, incremental changes must happen over time to gather and combine data across touchpoints and devices. By collecting and connecting cross-channel data, brands can finally gain richer marketing insights, understand the entire customer journey, personalize experiences, and finely target media and messaging campaigns—all of which will help optimize media spend and boost ROI.
And Signal, it’s our business to help brands through this complex but rewarding process. Signal’s Unified Customer View gives marketers that ability to really know their customers, to collect and connect their data from any channel, to any channel—all in real time.
The stakes are high. And despite the challenges, marketers know that solving the identity puzzle is well worth the effort. The brands that see it through and overcome the obstacles to a unified customer view will be ready and able to delight their customers with superb experiences, now and in the future.
Originally published March 24, 2015