Keeping up with digitally empowered consumers

This post is sponsored by Epsilon.

Marketers are continually striving to exceed customer expectations and improve their business performance. To achieve this, they need to make their interactions matter and experiences mean something to their audiences.

A critical component of that is delivering personalised and seamless experiences across all digital channels, but many of their initiatives miss the mark.

• 61% of consumers recently surveyed say that most marketing updates they receive by email do not offer anything that interests them.
• Only 9% say they are likely to sign up for an email from companies in the next 12 months.
• 74% of marketers surveyed are using martech to support SMS, but only 2% of consumers prefer to receive marketing updates via SMS.

A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Epsilon, found that a majority of marketers’ initiatives to personalise customers’ experiences are not meeting the expectations of today’s digitally savvy and empowered consumers.

So how can marketers keep up with these demands?

To bridge that gap and to leverage insights into real-time personalisation, half of the marketers in the Asia Pacific region plan to increase their investments in marketing technology (martech) in the next 12 months with solutions ranging from enterprise marketing software suites to cross-channel campaign management software, as well as point solutions such as email marketing and loyalty solutions.

But introducing martech requires brands to change the way they work and there can be issues when a brand is not reaping the benefits of the technology they have invested in. Brands also need to invest in the skills and time to develop their teams’ practical know-how, technical acumen and to develop a clear strategy.

Today’s marketers are asked to be strategists and tacticians, analysts and visionaries, innovators and brand stewards, technologists and creative directors. But no one can do everything equally well. Or all at once.

The marketers surveyed were keen to work beyond the technology and develop deeper partnerships with their martech providers who don’t just “sell” a solution, but help them optimise their technology investments across the board.

They recognised that leveraging the skills and experience of these martech providers can help them maximise their investments to drive efficiency, and better understand consumers to create personalised brand experiences.

To understand more about how Epsilon can help assemble the marketing operations, data, and analytic teams who can integrate channels, and create cutting-edge engagement, acquisition, and loyalty programmes – click here, or contact Paul Davies at Paul.Davies@epsilon.com.