Marketers increasingly recognize the importance of collecting real-time customer behavioral data to optimize the buyer journey. According to a recent study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Acoustic, a staggering 75% of respondents consider real-time data collection critical for business success.
This study sheds light on the considerable gaps in brands' strategies for managing customer data in today's complex privacy landscape. Titled "Strengthen Customer Retention And Engagement With Behavioral Data," the research delves into how many decision-makers gather and utilize customer behavioral signals to enhance customer engagement and retention efforts.
"Forrester's findings demonstrate that marketers continue to struggle with collecting and leveraging customer behavioral signals throughout the customer journey. Without the right technology and strategy in place, this gap will only grow as third-party cookies deprecate and marketers lose visibility into customer engagement. To address this need and enable brands to strengthen their customer relationships, we developed Acoustic Connect, a customer engagement platform that illuminates the full customer journey by empowering marketers to collect first-party behavioral data in real time and act on those signals from a single solution," said Mark Cattini, CEO of Acoustic
The ability to collect and derive insights from behavioral data plays a pivotal role in optimizing the customer journey. However, the study reveals that many marketers face challenges in effectively leveraging this data across all stages of the customer journey, hindering their ability to deliver personalized experiences.
Real-time experience in data collection
While 75% of respondents recognize the importance of collecting real-time experience data, only 47% are currently doing so. Real-time insights into customer behaviors enable marketers to address their needs promptly and effectively during their purchase journey. Still, over 60% struggle to incorporate this data into their engagement strategies, as they face challenges in effectively utilizing it.
Journey orchestration
Merely 45% of respondents engage in journey orchestration using customer behavioral signals, indicating a significant gap in creating data-driven experiences at various touchpoints with the brand. This highlights the need for marketers to expand their focus beyond the early stages of the customer journey.
Challenges in personalization
Personalizing customer outreach (67%) and analyzing customer data and signals (66%) emerge as top challenges for marketers. In addition, concerns regarding marketing automation (73%) and audience management and segmentation (69%) indicate a lack of adequate tools for delivering personalized experiences based on consumer behaviors.
Regional and organizational variations
Responses vary across regions, with North American respondents prioritizing customer retention over acquisition, while EMEA and Latin American respondents focus on enhancing data analytics and activating insights, respectively.
Moreover, small and midsize companies concentrate on marketing and increasing brand awareness, while enterprises prioritize retention and maintaining high revenue per customer. Each size category has unique foundational building blocks tailored to their business goals.
Recommendations for action
The study urged marketing leaders to prioritize high-impact applications of customer behavior data to avoid resource constraints and achieve early wins. Documenting use cases and assigning value to each application can guide strategic planning.
Marketers should also adopt a holistic strategy to trace customer interactions throughout the journey is essential. The focus should be on both historical behaviors and real-time signals to consistently refine their understanding of customer intent.
Collecting data is only the first step; marketers must transform it into actionable insights. Investing in tools that enable comprehensive data capture, analysis, and action empowers marketers to scale personalization efforts and improve ROI reporting.
Elsewhere, Acoustic has announced significant progress driven by its innovative platform, Acoustic Connect, and increased investment in top-tier talent worldwide.
