Customer insight is still a big hurdle for marketers

by Claire Foss Marketing Direct 20-Jan-06

UK and US direct marketers are struggling to apply customer insight and analysis, according to the second annual transatlantic survey of the industry by database software company Alterian.

The survey, which questioned 700 marketers, showed that 52 per cent of
respondents saw customer insight as their biggest hurdle, closely
followed by data hygiene with 46 per cent.

David Eldridge, CEO of Alterian, suggested that problems with customer

insight and analysis were two-fold: "When the data is stored internally,

for example in the IT department, marketing can be pushed lower down the
list of priorities," he says. "Unless you have a dedicated resource for
databases, it's difficult to run these well. This means that marketers
rarely have access to the data, and often have to ask other departments
to produce analysis for them."

However, 55 per cent said that technology is most valuable when used to
"analyse, visualise and segment" customer data.

Optimism remained high when it came to budgets, with 63 per cent
expecting DM expenditure to increase in 2006, up from 60 per cent last
year. In the US, expectations were even higher, with 70 per cent of
respondents expecting DM budgets to increase.

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

- 52 per cent of marketers said customer insight and analysis was their
biggest concern

- Data hygiene is also a significant worry for marketers

- 63 per cent of UK marketers, and 70 per cent of those in the US,
expect DM spend to increase this year.