Improving data collaboration is at the heart of marketers’ ambitions to understand the entirety of the customer journey, according to research carried out by Censuswide on behalf of LiveRamp.
The survey of 250 brand-side marketers in the UK found that, though 90% believe that their company’s approach to data is ‘mature’, 49% of those surveyed are unable to find audiences to match data-led customer insights ‘all of the time’. And this is fuelling the number one concern for marketers – their understanding of the whole customer journey (42%).
“The cost-of-living crisis is forcing consumers to feel the squeeze on their incomes, ultimately changing their buying habits. So, while we’re gearing up for a hotly-competitive summer, marketers are prioritising getting to know their customers better and maintaining long-term, mutually-beneficial relationships”, comments Hugh Stevens, UK MD at LiveRamp. “Data collaboration is increasingly being recognised as a crucial element in the matchmaking process between brand and customer. A well-matched data partnership can provide a huge opportunity for greater addressability and measurement. Those that do not already have a mature data strategy will likely be playing catch-up with competitors. Marketers need to act now or risk falling behind.”
With an eye on fixing the issues they face, 94% of marketers believe it would be helpful to collaborate with partners to enhance their first-party data strategies. In addition, 59% of respondents described retail media as ‘an important part’ of their media plan, with a further 34% describing retail media as something they were ‘increasingly beginning to adopt’.
In terms of metrics, brand awareness (58%) is what marketers identify as mattering the most. This was followed by return on ad spend (45%) and category reach (39%).
*LiveRamp is a client of Bluestripe Communications, owned by Bluestripe Group, publisher of NDA
