Coremetrics study reveals damaging effects on marketing industry due to lack of technology

Marketing optimisation systems provider, Coremetrics has launched a study that reveals the alarming extent to which the marketing industry is struggling to evolve, due to the lack of adoption of technology.

"The Face of the New Marketer" finds that, while most marketers report they need to use online data to personalise their marketing efforts and deliver tailored offers to their customers, their current technology use does not support this goal.

Furthermore, there was a marked discrepancy between marketers' need to manage to metrics and their confidence in the accuracy of the data. "The Face of the New Marketer" study, conducted on Coremetrics' behalf by Bloomberg BusinessWeek Research Services, polled 361 senior marketing executives in the UK and the US.

Three quarters of marketers report that using various online tools for personalisation is a priority and 81% claim that it's very important for them to increase visitor value through compelling product and content offerings. Yet only half report they currently use online personalisation tools (51%), suggesting the information and data gathered through online marketing efforts is still not being used to its full potential.

Multimedia approach is fundamental

"Business leaders are aware of the value online marketing provides, but there is a disconnect in that many are not sure they are using it effectively," said John Squire, Coremetrics chief strategy officer. "Companies that can harness marketing technology can then get the most meaning and value out of the data they collect from it. In turn this enables companies to personalise their marketing efforts and create a competitive advantage."

While spending on online marketing efforts has increased, most marketers lack confidence that they are using the right metrics to gauge marketing success and value. When asked how they would evaluate marketing success at the end of 2009, nearly half (47%) said "meeting our key performance indicators". However, well over half of marketers (62%) claim they are not confident they are tracking the right metrics for online marketing performance - a significant discrepancy.

Additionally, there was a perceived lack of confidence in the accuracy of this online marketing data. Only 13% of executives are extremely confident the online data they receive from managers is accurate, while only 6% of managers share the same level of confidence about the data they are providing.