Personalisation: 75% of marketers lack faith in senior leadership’s understanding of customer marketing’s value to business

Three quarters of senior marketers at B2C brands believe senior leadership doesn’t value the role of customer marketing to the wider business.

Meanwhile 47% of marketers do not believe they have adequate resources to get insights into customer behaviour, with less than a quarter (23%) confident they have a full 360-degree view of individual customers.

A study commissioned by first-party data agency Planning-inc has found that inoperable customer data, insufficient analyst resources and a lack of customer insight are hindering the impact of marketers’ programs.

James Melhuish, CEO of Planning-inc, said: “These findings show that marketers don't have access to the right information about their customers, limiting their efforts to develop their customer marketing campaigns.”

Why prioritise personalisation?

Amid the ongoing cost of living crisis and with a recession seemingly on the horizon, UK consumer confidence is nearing historic lows, worsening for the first time in three months in January of 2023, according to market research firm GfK.

To boost consumer confidence and incentivise brand loyalty, personalisation of marketing has become an important factor for increasing retention rates.

But Planning-inc’s study indicates that efforts to improve personalisation are being curtailed by a lack of insight into customer behaviour. The research found that 43% of marketers believe their brands current personalisation efforts in communications are “unsophisticated”, citing disjointed consumer data as the reason why.

This lack of sophistication isn’t discouraging brands from being in constant communication with consumers, as 86% are still sending out between 11 to 25 communications per week, highlighting that some brands’ senior leadership maintain the belief that, when it comes to customer marketing, volume trumps relevancy.

Melhuish said that considering the volatility of the current economic climate and subsequent frugality of consumers means “it’s never been more important for B2C brands to scale their personalisation efforts and retain customers”.

He added: “With the right tools and insights, marketers can make fundamental gains in a business’ external communication efforts, directly impacting the bottom line. In turn, this will win more senior visibility and engagement to demonstrate value, helping build internal relationships.”