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UK consumers reckon 50% of personalised content is a turn off
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Over half (51%) of UK consumers say that the targeted content they receive online is often “boring” or “unhelpful.”

That’s according to new research from Optimizely, the leading digital experience platform (DXP) provider, which reveals that while personalisation holds great potential for enhancing customer loyalty, the reliance on assumptions and outdated technology remain major obstacles.

Based on a comprehensive study of 100 UK marketing leaders and 1,000 UK consumers, the Personalised to Personal report shows that an overwhelming 70% of consumers feel frustrated that the promotions they receive are not directly relevant to their personal interests.

Concerningly, 83% of marketers admitted that their current personalisation efforts heavily rely on assumptions about customers rather than high-quality insights. 71% also acknowledged that generalisations still form the foundation of too many personalisation campaigns, pointing to a significant gap between the personalised experiences consumers desire and what brands currently provide.

The study also shed light on how outdated technologies hinder effective personalisation. Only 33% of marketers claimed to possess the necessary technology to deliver hyper-personalised experiences tailored to individual customers.

These shortcomings largely stem from outdated technology, with a staggering 74% of marketers feeling that their current personalisation tools are no longer adequate.

However, the report also highlights the immense potential of personalisation to foster customer loyalty. A notable 65% of consumers are more loyal to a brand that has taken the time to understand them on a deeper, more personal level.

“In 2023, delivering truly personalised content is absolutely essential to meet individuals’ interests and needs, as well as to foster brand loyalty,” said Shafqat Islam, CMO of Optimizely. “But when the vast majority of marketers are using outdated technology, it’s nearly impossible for them to regularly meet consumer’s expectations, leading them to miss out on the strong growth opportunities that a data-led personalisation strategy provides.”

The findings of Optimizely’s report highlight the urgent need for brands to bridge the gap between customer expectations and the personalised experiences companies currently deliver. By investing in modern, data-driven technologies, such as web experimentation, brands can optimise their personalisation efforts and forge deeper connections with their customers.

While having modern personalisation technology is crucial for providing relevant online experiences, brands must also focus on making their content engaging and exciting to avoid appearing dull. To achieve this, marketing leaders should think about adopting a content marketing platform, providing a dedicated workspace where teams can organize workflows, collaborate on assets, and efficiently run campaigns. By simplifying the content creation process, marketers can dedicate more time to crafting and refining content and less time on administrative tasks.

Over half (51%) of UK consumers say that the targeted content they receive online is often “boring” or “unhelpful.”

Positive customer service now ‘crucial’ to brand success
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British customers are more likely to vote with their wallet when they are unhappy with a brand, with 1 in 2 (51%) said they will only give brands two chances after a bad brand interaction before choosing not to buy from them again.

64% said a good customer call experience would make them brand advocates, making the short call centre interaction even more crucial to brand loyalty, according to new online research from Infobip.

The research polled 2,000 UK Adults aged 18 and above, and aimed to find out the motivations and avenues which British consumers are complaining. The findings revealed the following about customer complaints in the UK:

  • Per my last email: Almost half (45%) of Brits say they prefer using email to lodge complaints; with almost half (48%) saying they preferred to because of convenience.
  • Please leave a message after the tone: Of the 17% who said they preferred call centres, unsurprisingly, Gen Zs (18 to 24-year-olds) came in last at only 10%, and it’s those aged 25-34 and above 65 that came in tops at 20% and 21% respectively. A finding that suggests that while millennials are commonly known to steer clear from making phone calls, younger customers will do so to get their problems fixed.
  • Poor service, product and delivery delays the biggest gripes: 33% say poor service was the main complaint motivator, followed by poor product (27%) and delivery delays (28%).
  • Retailers are repeat offenders: 2 in 5 (44%) said they complained about the retail sector, ahead of food delivery companies (19%) and utilities (16%).

Despite the motivations behind and methods of the complaints, the findings also showed that brands still have the chance to turn an unpleasant experience into a positive one, and even convert customers into brand advocates with a positive customer service experience.

  • Don’t show me the money: 1 in 3 said speaking to an agent who empathises with their problems (33%) help improve the overall complaint experience, more so than receiving monetary compensation (17%) – in a finding that suggests that people do not want money thrown at the problem.
  • There is no time to waste: 4 in 5 say that call centre workers who can address their issues (44%) and quickly answer their queries (40%) make the unpleasant complaint experience better.

James Stokes, Country Manager, UK & Ireland at Infobip said: “Regardless of the preferred method of complaining, brands only have a short timeframe to turn irate customers into brand advocates. Making customers happy is no longer a ‘good to have’. With customers showing willingness to vote with their feet, good customer service is crucial to businesses’ overall bottom-line. With an omnichannel customer service platform solution, we hope to empower call centre workers with the right tools to perform at their best, and ultimately allow customers to reap the benefits on their preferred communications platform.”

Generative AI ‘revolutionising’ retail experiences
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Generative AI’s ability to fabricate hyper-customised content is turning the tables in retail marketing and communication strategies, also extending its reach into tasks such as inventory planning.

Kiran Raj, Practice Head of Disruptive Tech at GlobalData, said: “In a retail environment where the product-to-experience shift is increasingly significant, genAI can enable the creation of immersive, personalised experiences, integrating virtual and physical retail spaces in a manner that resonates with modern consumers’ expectations. Moreover, it is no longer about a one-size-fits-all engagement; rather, it is about a tailor-made experience catering to individual needs”

Saurabh Daga, Associate Project Manager of Disruptive Tech at GlobalData, added: “By leveraging key data points from customers’ purchase history and preferences, genAI can facilitate building personalized shopping experiences and targeted marketing strategies. The technology can empower retailers to deliver superior service at reduced costs, leading to greater customer satisfaction.”

GlobalData’s latest Innovation Radar report, “Cognitive revolution: genAI meets retail,” offers a view of how the disruptive technology is being deployed across the retail value chain, from inventory management and personalised marketing to customer experience and support.

GenAI can transform retail operations such as inventory planning, product recommendations, and customer service. Promising genAI applications include creating new product designs based on defined criteria and sentiment analysis to predict customer trends.

It cites traditional retailers like Carrefour and IKEA are using genAI to streamline operations and augment customer support. Meanwhile, e-commerce players like Amazon, Shopify, and Instacart are leveraging genAI to improve online shopping experiences and increase cart conversion rates. Big technology companies such as Google and Salesforce are offering genAI solutions to help e-commerce players as well as retailers optimize their online customer engagement.

Daga concluded: “While there are inherent challenges in implementing genAI, particularly in consumer-facing sectors like retail, the potential for substantial progress is undeniable. Challenges such as content quality and privacy must be managed through strong governance. Small and medium retailers can benefit from strategic partnerships to overcome entry barriers required to build the supporting technology, infrastructure, and personnel for genAI implementation.”

Image by Hannes Edinger from Pixabay

Digital engagement ‘key to driving luxury purchases’
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The outlook for luxury shopping in 2023 is positive, according to a poll of 500 shoppers that found nearly half (45%) of respondents purchased 3-5 luxury goods in 2022; while just under a quarter (24%) purchased 6-10 items, and 11% purchased luxury goods more than eleven times.

In good news for the 2023 outlook, the same research conducted by Wunderkind reveals that 70% of consumers are confident about their personal economic prospects and 89% expect to maintain or increase their level of online purchases this year.

However, success for luxury brands will be contingent on delivering consistently personalised digital engagement across multiple channels – as the same proportion of respondents (89%) said that, when considering whether to purchase from a new brand, personalisation of messaging and content has a significant influence on their decision-making.

While luxury consumers are often fiercely loyal to their chosen brands, with a tendency toward repeat purchases, Wunderkind’s research showed that 45% are open to broadening their horizons and trying new brands.  Social media channels were considered the most influential for staying engaged with luxury brands, the favoured option of more than half (53%) of respondents, followed by a brand’s app (46%) and email (45%).

Reflecting on their journey to purchase, 50% of consumers stated that they research a product 3-5 times before they buy. For millennials in particular, this journey is often fragmented and ‘omnichannel’ – spanning 3-5 channels or platforms before ultimately closing the purchase.

Cian Agnew, Executive Director of Client Partnerships at Wunderkind, said: “There are valuable lessons in the research for brand marketers in the face of economic uncertainty.  While 70% of luxury consumers are confident about their personal economic outlook for 2023 – indicating a broadly undiminished appetite for shopping – the consideration phase is still relatively elongated, with consumers researching products across multiple brand channels, and in multiple sessions, before ultimately adding to basket.

“These findings support the need for brands to have strategies in place to effectively capture visitors via their owned channels – and to then re-engage and bring them back on-site if they don’t convert on their first visit.  Communicating in a way that’s highly relevant, personal and tailored to the individual is key bringing consumers back – and turning casual browsers into loyal, repeat purchasers.”

Image by justinedgecreative from Pixabay

B2B buyers value 3rd party interactions more than those with digital suppliers
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B2B buyers report that they value third-party interactions 1.4x more than digital supplier interactions, according to new Gartner data.Its survey of 771 B2B buyers conducted in November and December 2022 revealed some third- party interactions, such as reading customer references or reviews and consulting directly with third-party experts, are better suited to provide customers with value affirmation.

“Buyers want to feel confident throughout their purchase journey, and third-party sources can help get them there,” said Rick LaFond, Director Analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice.

The survey showed YouTube as the top social media channel to influence a recent B2B purchase decision, followed by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok (see Figure 1).

 

Figure 1. Social Media Platforms Informing Recent B2B Purchase Decisions

Source: Gartner (June 2023)

“Social channels are extremely under leveraged platforms for B2B brands,” continued LaFond. “Marketers can go beyond using social channels for flashy short-form videos promoting brand values to truly demonstrate how the brand supports different customer needs and pain points across various stages of the buying process.”While third-party interactions are top of mind for B2B buyers, a supplier’s digital channels still can have a large impact on the purchase process. When asked to identify which digital supplier interactions were engaged during a purchase decision, B2B buyers identified a supplier’s website as the most leveraged channel, followed by the supplier’s social media channels, an online search for the supplier and the supplier’s interactive tools (e.g., product recommenders, price calculators).

“Brands do not need to have their social strategy solely rely on third-parties,” said LaFond. “The data clearly shows that buyers are approaching social from a holistic buying perspective.

“Brands’ digital experiences must improve if they are so far down the list of what customers value. Most B2B CMOs are probably not tapping into the return of third-party interactions despite the weight they carry in serving as information sources for their buyers.”

Cost of living crisis impacting how marketing teams allocate PR budgets
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40% of PR professionals don’t expect their budgets to grow in 2023, with 1 in 4 (25%) admitting that they are seeing their PR budgets reduce.

When also asked to estimate the overall marketing budget being invested into PR, the majority (25%) answered they were seeing around 5%, with just 10% of respondents stating that up to 50% of their marketing spend was being invested into public relations activity.

The 2023 JBH PR Report – undertaken by the Manchester based digital PR and SEO agency JBH – surveyed 155 agency and in-house PR professionals.

Survey responses for the report were collected between February-March 2023, with some of the most notable takeaways from the report being:-

  • Just one in three (33%) of PR’s report to their clients/company on backlinks
  • One in six (17%) of PR’s are paying for editorial coverage for their clients
  • 70% of respondents say volume of coverage is the primary KPI in PR activity
  • Online and broadcast tops the list as the most desired form of coverage from brands and clients
  • The most common techniques implemented by PR’s in 2023 are proactive PR, reactive PR, and feature pitching
  • More than half (53%) of PR professionals admit that they are finding it more difficult to secure coverage through their pitches and campaign outreach in 2023 compared to previous years
  • More than two fifths (42%) of PR’s are confident that the headcount within their team will increase this year

Jane Hunt (pictured, above), CEO of JBH, said: “There’s no denying that 2023 is proving to be a trying time for those of us operating within the marketing industry. Budgets are under more severe scrutiny than ever before, and every penny counts when it comes to being able to prove the huge value that we know well executed PR activity can have for brands and clients.

“By collecting and understanding how others in the industry are tackling campaigns, outreach and measurement in the current climate, as well as their general experiences of the industry, it is our hope that The JBH PR Report gives PR’s at all levels a deeper understanding into the approaches being taken by their peers.”

More in depth information and analysis of The JBH PR Report can be found here: https://jbh.co.uk/state-of-pr/

UK consumers demanding more curation of the ads they see
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Consumer demands for curated ads from trusted brands is prompting retailers to tap retail media opportunities and open up new revenue streams from monetising their first party audiences.

That’s according to the latest research from ADvendio, which surveyed over 1,000 UK shoppers to show the impact of customer engagement via traditional advertising was diminishing, with respondents saying they ignore over half (56%) of digital advertising they see, while 54% of search ads also go unnoticed by UK consumers.

And this diminishing engagement is being caused by unpersonalised and poorly targeted advertisements and engagement strategies; 68% of shoppers say they often received ads from retailers and brands that are unpersonalised or irrelevant, and 74% report they regularly receive ads for products they aren’t interested in.  A further seven in ten (68%) also said they frequently get served content digitally that’s not relevant to them.

And, because consumers are experiencing poor quality ad experiences with 3rd party brands, they are now wanting curate content and personalised ads served to them by the retailers they are already loyal to. Half (50%) of those polled said they would like to receive highly curated, personalised advertisements and brand communications from the retailers they already shop with, rising to 65% of Gen Z and 62% of Millennials.

And, with two fifths (38%) saying they would be most likely to buy from a product recommendation they received from a retailer they already regularly shopped with, this is prompting retailers to adapt how they leverage and monetise their own first party data and audiences.

Commenting in ADvendio’s latest report ‘Where the Retail Media opportunities lie in 2023’, IGD’s Global Insight Leader, Toby Pickard, said: “This is a significant opportunity for retailers to enhance their collaboration with suppliers, unlocking new opportunities for revenue and profitability as they win over marketing spend from ‘traditional’ media like digital, out of home or broadcast.  The ability to influence shoppers before they start shopping, when they get to the store or website and at the virtual or real shelf – or ‘prime, prompt, purchase’ as Tesco puts it – is a powerful one as it enables brands to focus marketing spend on particular groups such as current shoppers, lapsed shoppers, competitor shoppers or possible shoppers.”

Bernd Bube, Founder and CEO of ADvendio, added: “Diminishing returns on traditional media ad spend, cookie depreciation and engagement levels on social media and PPC plateauing prompting lower ROI on what were previously lucrative channels is proving a perfect storm for retail media.  Those retail businesses with strong data sets realise they have a great position to benefit from this digital marketing crossroads.  Not just representing a sizable revenue opportunity, Retail Media Networks are changing the role of the retailer into media powerhouses, offering opportunities for advertisers and 3rd party brands to reach and influence highly-engaged and conversion-ready consumers.”

Retailers ‘must hyper-personalise’ to survive
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Only 34% of IT decision-makers at UK retailers are “very confident” that their organisation will be able to keep in touch with customer concerns and anxieties in the cost-of-living crisis.

This is according to research from Ensono, which says retailers expect to lose an average of almost one-third (29%) of their customer base as the cost-of-living crisis continues.

The research, which surveyed 500 senior IT decision makers working in UK retail, revealed retailers feeling the strain of rising prices and the worsening cost-of-living crisis.

It found department store brands expect to lose an average of 32% of customers – the largest drop across the different areas of retail surveyed, highlighting the need for innovative solutions to retain existing customers.

The most pressure is on the smallest retailers, with tech decision-makers at retailers with just 1-9 employees expecting to lose 36% of their customers. This compares to 27% at retailers with more than 500 employees.

Customer connection is front of mind for UK retailers in navigating the difficult economic climate. Confidence, however, is muted across the industry. Only 34% respondents are “very confident” that their organisation will be able to keep in touch with customer concerns and anxieties during the cost-of-living crisis, with 48% “somewhat confident” and 17% ‘not very confident/not confident at all’.

Higher revenue is no guarantee of confidence in connecting with customers. Retailers with a revenue of £500 million – £999.99 million were in fact more confident (73%) than retailers with revenue of £2 billion-£2.9 billion (69%).  Retailers in essential services like grocers (89%) and fashion (88%) are more confident about staying connected with customers than their counterparts in the luxury space like entertainment (71%) or health & beauty (74%).

The research makes clear that retailers are committed to finding new ways to innovate and modernise the services they offer to customers. Sixty-three percent of IT decision-makers have increased tech investment as a result of rapidly changing consumer behaviour. Leaders are focused on several areas of technology to spur growth in 2023:

  1. Behavioural and product analytics (39%)
  2. Monitoring and performance tools (36%)
  3. Cloud Infrastructure (36%)

Retailers are prepared to move quickly on this investment. More than three-quarters (76%) of retailers said they prioritise first-mover advantage on tech investment to avoid being left behind by competitors. This focus on first-mover advantage was particularly strong in Grocery (91%), Sports & Leisure (86%), and Fashion (85%).

This conviction is backed up by clear alignment with the rest of the business: 79% of respondents agreed they have a voice in shaping the strategic direction of the business.

Steven Jones, Consulting Director at Ensono, said: “Retailers are facing a challenging 2023. It’s clear that many in the industry are bracing for severe customer losses as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite for UK retailers.

“Survival will require retailers to be agile, taking swift action to preserve and make the most of the customers they have. Technology investment by retailers needs to be strategic and targeted. High-impact tools like data analytics help retailers build a more comprehensive picture of customer behaviour, staying connected with customer needs and priorities, and enabling them to deliver a hyper-personalised, memorable experience every step of the way.”

‘Catalytic marketing’ will allow CMOs to drive profitable growth
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Catalytic marketing experiences provide the greatest boost to commercially productive behaviours such as paying a premium or referring other customers to the brand.

That’s according to analysts at Gartner, who categorise catalytic marketing experiences as those that change customers’ understanding of their own needs and make them feel more confident moving in a new direction.

During the opening keynote of the Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo, Gartner experts explored how catalytic marketing can help alleviate the pressures CMOs are under to deliver profitable, digital growth amid disruption.

“In a pressurized environment, CMOs are eager to optimize their investments and justify their existence,” said Carlos Guerrero, VP, Advisory in the Gartner Marketing Practice. “Yet they overcompensate in their customer-focused activities, continuously investing in more channels, technology, customer data and personalization.

“The singular focus on customers results in a series of escalating and unprofitable investments in experiences that customers find invasive and tune out. To spark productive, lasting changes in organizations and audiences requires catalytic marketing.”

Catalytic experiences help marketers do less to get more: They don’t require additional integrated data, engagement across channels, nor more technology or a fully optimized engine for journey orchestration – all of which caters to CMOs’ budget and resource constraints.

Instead, they require one meaningful opportunity that prompts customers to stop and think, change their perspective on something they knew well, or teach them something entirely new about the brand.

Gartner research shows that a single catalytic digital experience doubles the likelihood of commercially productive behaviors. It matters even more than having a large number of memorable brand interactions and rating all of them as high-value.

For example, one cosmetics company provided customers with an AI-powered assessment of their unique skincare needs, simulating an in-person beauty advisor. Customers could reflect on and explore skin improvement goals based on an honest appraisal of their skin’s features compared to other people their age.

“The cosmetic brand went beyond being just another product recommender by supporting customers’ own self-assessment of their skin prior to being routed to any product recommendation,” said Lizzy Foo Kune, VP Analyst in the Gartner Marketing Practice. “Ultimately, the catalytic experience it provided deliberately elicited a moment of self-reflection that gave customers the confidence to commit to a new skin care regimen, providing lasting change in their target audience.”

The Three C’s of Catalytic CMOs: Clarity, Connections and Courage

Catalytic marketing must be supported by a distinct management orientation that allows CMOs to create and deploy these experiences at scale.

Catalytic marketing leaders demonstrate and cultivate unusual levels of:

  • Clarity (of strategy) – They willingly articulate a limited set of core objectives and brand traits, and exercise discipline in pursuing a small number of strategically important activities.
  • Connections (of capabilities) – They prioritize capabilities and management techniques that enable coordinated, adaptive use of resources, including converged channel management and cross-channel customer experiences.
  • Courage (of convictions) – They defend choices to constrain remits, push back on urgent but unimportant requests, and opt to pare or devolve ownership of non-core tasks or investments.

“Progressive CMOs are breaking free from the cycle of more by embracing catalytic marketing and, in the process, shifting from growing marketing’s scope to growing marketing’s success as an efficient growth engine for the enterprise,” concluded Guerrero.

66% of marketers ‘lack confidence’ in ability to achieve revenue goals
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Research has highlighted the importance of data/analytics for marketers working to protect budgets and prove ROI in 2023.

A study conducted by Sprinklr and the CMO Council, Outsmart Adversity: Weathering Economic Headwinds and Emerging Poised for Growth, found that 2 in 3 marketing leaders lack confidence in their ability to achieve goals in the face of economic adversity and uncertainty.

Nearly 8 in 10 express concerns around lack of investment or budget cuts. Challenges with executing data-driven marketing strategies contribute to this lack of confidence.  

The report surveyed nearly 500 global marketing leaders to reveal key findings about how marketers feel about economic adversity, and how they can achieve revenue goals.  

Key findings include:  

  • 78% of marketers don’t strongly feel that they can convince the CFO to invest in marketing and not cut the budget. 
  • Facing budget challenges, a majority (68%) strongly agree that it’s imperative for CMOs and CIOs to collaborate this year to develop a competitive advantage with customer experience.  
  • However, even among highly confident marketers surveyed, only 32% are very satisfied in their ability to leverage data/analytics. Among less confident marketers, this falls to 10%. 
  • Internal collaboration and maximising ROI across marketing channels will be key to success. In the next 12 months, most marketers plan to create omnichannel customer experiences to help them emerge from economic uncertainty.  

“Marketers will have to build alliances with finance and IT to protect budgets and MarTech investments, and they’ll need to identify and shore up capabilities to build their confidence,” said Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council. “These capabilities include gathering real-time insights that reveal how audiences really feel about your marketing on multiple channels, and then easily distributing this knowledge throughout the organisation.”

“In uncertain times, marketers face even more pressure to protect budgets and programs by demonstrating clear ROI,” said Arun Pattabhiraman, Chief MarketingOfficer, Sprinklr. “As our research with the CMO Council shows, marketers must embrace the opportunity to enhance the way they gather data, identify actionable consumer insights, and strengthen their engagement strategy across channels.”