Today’s customers expect more than seamless digital experience. They expect relevant, personalized interactions across every touchpoint, no matter where or how they engage. Yet many organizations struggle to deliver, even after investing heavily in marketing technology that promises to deliver these experiences at scale.
Ninety-four percent of customers surveyed by Adobe say they would switch to a competitor if they consistently experienced disconnected journeys with a brand.
The personalization gap: why investments aren’t paying off
Organizations continue to invest heavily in analytics and personalization technologies, yet adoption and utilization often lag. For example, fewer than a third of marketers believe they are truly delivering differentiated digital experiences, according to Salesforce’s State of Marketing Report, Tenth Edition.
Common challenges include:
- Duplicative technology spend, such as running multiple analytics platforms in parallel.
- Limited visibility into how tools are being used and whether they’re driving outcomes.
- Inconsistent analytics practices across teams and business units.
- Siloed data and processes that prevent a unified view of the customer.
The result? Valuable customer insights remain locked away and personalization efforts struggle to scale.
A buyer’s journey is no longer linear
Many of us, from the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep, are inundated with information. Mobile, web, email, print, media, in-store social and more – information is available, but our brains tune out the noise when we aren’t ready to consume it. We are at a point where content is plenty, but impact is lessened until content is distributed at a moment that matters.
Right message, right time, right channel – who doesn’t remember that? If you’ve been in this industry for some time, these words would echo through our agency walls, time and time again, to drive strategy, technology and activation. But in today’s world, while those pillars still exist, the depth of what they mean has shifted.
- Consumer buying behaviors are more mature, so it’s essential to have personalization power the right message.
- Engagement data is deeper and more telling of inflection points. Listen to these signals to activate at the right time.
- Predictive models and technology advancement provide more capability than ever before. Leverage technology to distribute meaningful content to the right channel.
Strategies must shift from a channel-centric mindset to customer-centric, meaning:
- Meet customers wherever they enter the journey.
- Tailor experiences based on behavior and context.
- Drive results by shifting the pillars from right to relevant — relevant messaging, relevant timing and relevant channel.
Customer data and analytics as the foundation for personalization
Data is critical to guide customers toward meaningful outcomes. Key components of a strong foundation include:
- A well-designed data architecture.
- Event driven data collection.
- Robust audience segmentation and activation.
- A unified view of the customer across channels and across the organization.
When customer data is connected and contextualized, organizations can move from isolated interactions to tailored, end-to-end experiences.
Successful personalization is inherently data driven. Customer data analytics enables organizations to understand what’s working, where friction exists and how experiences impact business outcomes.
Today, many companies struggle with disconnected customer data and face gaps in fully understanding their customers’ preferences and behaviors. They have little or no insight into where friction occurs and how to optimize the customer journey. In fact, Adobe also reports that 94 percent of consumers experience disconnected or inconsistent interactions with brands.
Data is often owned by individual teams including marketing, product, data science and customer service, each with their own metrics and definitions of success.
Yet, customers don’t experience brands in silos.
Smashing silos enables true journey-based analytics and more meaningful personalization.
Modern analytics platforms, such as Adobe Analytics and Customer Journey Analytics, are changing this dynamic by enabling self-service analysis in seconds, allowing users to explore journeys, drop-offs, and trends interactively
However, technology alone isn’t enough. Real success happens when strategy and technology work together, breaking down siloes across the organization to align goals, measurement and execution for growth.
Turning personalization into a growth engine
Delivering exceptional personalized experiences means realizing the value of existing investments in technology by connecting data, teams and strategy around the customer.
Organizations that succeed start simple, break down silos and use analytics to continuously improve experiences, turning personalization into a true growth driver.
Protiviti works with firms to support their journey to mature data analytics and better understand customers’ behaviors. From Marketing Advisory to Technology Enablement, we help organizations realize the value of their investments, unlocking the art of what is possible for memorable, personalized customer experiences.
To learn more about Protiviti’s Marketing Technology Advising services or our Adobe consulting services, contact us.
