Marketers worried about data standardization
Salesforce has unveiled its latest State of Marketing Report. The report looks at the latest trends and examines how marketers are evaluating and implementing AI into their operations, how they are collecting, maintaining and using data, and how they are ensuring customer trust and data security in the face of growing concerns. Over 4,800 marketers from 29 countries were surveyed - including 75 from Switzerland.
The most important findings from Switzerland
For marketing managers in this country, improving the use of tools and technologies is a priority. CMOs are often under pressure to maintain or even exceed marketing performance with fewer resources. Therefore, they may see optimizing their current technology stack as a promising solution.
However, they see the greatest challenge in standardizing the sources in which customer data is stored. Data and artificial intelligence can help marketing managers to reach customers in new ways and launch more efficient campaigns. However, their potential is far from exhausted. Even those who are already performing well still see room for improvement:
- Only 39% of respondents in Switzerland are satisfied with their current options for customer data management and the corresponding customer experience.
- 68% have access to real-time data to run campaigns. But 47% need the help of their IT department.
AI is being used widely: Marketers want to use AI successfully in their business based on the right data, but at the same time worry about security and customer trust while implementation gains driveway.
- 83% of marketing experts in Switzerland are already experimenting with AI or have fully integrated it into their workflows. On a global average, only 32% have fully integrated AI into marketing and a further 43% are testing the technology.
- The three most popular AI use cases in Switzerland are:
- Programmatic advertising and media buying
- Automation of data integration
- Improvement of customer segmentation and target group modeling
"We are in a new era of AI. Marketers will be most successful when they leverage the rapid advances in technology to better connect with customers and prospects. A solid data foundation will be critical to the AI success of marketing teams as they work to merge and unify customer data for real-time activation," comments Vanessa Gentile, Head of Marketing Salesforce Switzerland, on the findings.
Synthesis of further and global results and trends
Worldwide, marketers use a median of 9 tactical measures to collect customer data and better understand their target group. The majority of these come from customer service activities. Innovative marketers are more likely to seek a connected view of their customers and a full-funnel approach to data. Fully integrated data is more prevalent among companies that are practicing high-performance marketing. This suggests that investing in the right tools is paying off and unifying data can give marketers an advantage.
Source: www.salesforce.com
