Research from customer engagement platform Braze has revealed that only four in 10 (41%) UK companies exceeded their revenue goals in 2020.
Braze’s inaugural Global Customer Engagement Review, which identifies the top trends, challenges, benchmarks and strategies for the next era of customer engagement, found that marketing budgets are set to increase for half (50%) of UK companies. However, marketers plan to put this money behind investment in machine learning and artificial intelligence (47%) before customer analytics (45%) and customer satisfaction (43%).
The survey was conducted by Wakefield Research among 1,300 marketing executives in 10 markets, with a minimum title of VP, working at companies with a minimum annual revenue of $10m+.
Commenting on the report, James Manderson, VP of Global Success at Braze, said: “While it is positive to see that UK companies are upping their marketing budgets this year, it is imperative they place it into customer engagement strategies and tools that impact revenue. Across all sectors, companies are fighting for customers’ attention and we know a third (36%) of them find breaking through or standing out in a crowded market a challenge. In order to rise above the noise, companies must communicate with customers in personalised, human and ultimately engaging ways.”
The report’s findings suggest that more needs to be done to educate marketers on the importance of customer engagement and its business impact.
81% of marketers at companies that exceeded revenue goals, say they are concerned customer engagement metrics don’t translate into outcomes. Braze also found that, while 79% of marketers feel confident in their customer engagement strategy, 77% struggle to showcase customer engagement through business outcomes. However, these stats are unsurprising considering only three in 10 (30%) share a company-wide understanding of how to define customer engagement success.
Manderson said: “2020 was a wake-up call to marketers. Today, customers are in the driving seat and want to be communicated with in a way that suits them. While the industry has a long way to go to fully understanding the importance of customer engagement, it’s taking steps in the right direction. We can see this in the success of UK brands we work with like Deliveroo, Bloom&Wild and Babylon. Thanks to prioritising customer satisfaction and adopting customer engagement technology they are able communicate in personalised and human ways in real-time.”
