Lack Of Investment And Siloed Working Biggest Barriers To Multichannel Marketing
There's no doubt that customers today have much more control over the buying process than marketers do.
There’s no doubt that customers today have much more control over the buying process than marketers do. Thanks to the proliferation of available channels, customers have more choices than ever when it comes to how they want to get information. And as the number of channels continues to rise, the need to embrace multichannel marketing will become not only a good idea, but a critical one.
LEWIS PR recently conducted a study with over 370 senior marketing professionals – marketing managers, directors and CMOs – across EMEA, APAC and the US. The aim of the research was to build a picture of: current approaches to multichannel marketing; key channels; levels of adoption and investment; biggest challenges; and approaches to multichannel campaign measurement. Here are some of the key findings:
1. Adoption rates are good, but campaigns lack investment
The study revealed that multichannel marketing is being widely practiced, with almost one third of respondents executing seven or more multichannel campaigns in the last year. With a third of marketers also experiencing successful results and ROI from campaigns, this demonstrates that multichannel marketing is making an impact.
Now that marketers are beginning to see the value and impact of multichannel marketing, brands are increasing spend over the next twelve months to further maximise multichannel ROI. However, this has yet to translate into the necessary investment in the tools, resources and training to enable marketers to truly maximise multichannel campaigns.
2. Measurement needs to move forward
It’s also clear from the research that effective measurement isn’t being practiced widely enough – across all regions.
Marketers need to invest sufficient time and resources into effectively measuring multichannel campaigns to demonstrate ROI, in order to build a strong case for greater investment moving forward. Defining success metrics and key outcomes at the outset of campaigns should be a crucial element of a solid measurement strategy. As is tracking results in real-time to create actionable insight and optimize activity throughout the campaign cycle for greater ROI.
3. Joined-up working is only route to success
Another significant barrier to success for marketers, revealed by the research, is the structure of their organisations’ marketing and communications teams. Less than half of marketers are confident that their team structure effectively facilitates integrated campaign management.
Breaking down siloes within marketing and communications teams is absolutely vital if brands are to execute truly integrated campaigns. There must be cohesion and collaboration amongst teams to ensure the campaign message is delivered consistently across all channels.
Check out the infographic for an overview of the findings and read the full report for more.