Report: Marketers Still Challenged to Strategize Around Customer Experience

B2B marketers have primarily focused on improving the customer experience (CX) in the past. While they are not abandoning this as a priority, new research indicates that they are also looking to make improvements in other areas along the way.

B2B International recently conducted its “2021 B2B Marketing Monitor” report, and statistics showed that delivering an excellent CX throughout the entire customer life cycle remains a top challenge. Other obstacles include building/strengthening customer relationships in a digital world, and leveraging data to inform more efficient and optimized marketing programs.

Out of these priorities, delivering an excellent CX throughout the entire customer life cycle was considered the most challenging among the respondents. In Q1 of 2021, approximately 81% of marketers said that they expected personalized marketing to have an influence on their overall strategy. This is an increase from the 65% who said the same back in Q4 2019.

Developing a Marketing Strategy Around CX

Crafting a marketing strategy around CX is not always easy, but previous research suggests that marketers are not pulling back on attempts to make it a top priority.

Alchemer and Forrester partnered to publish the “Why Customer Experience Programs Miss Their Mark” report, and data indicated that most marketers (86%) are going to make improving the customer experience a “high” or “critical” priority over the next 12 months. Nearly 66% claimed that they would also like to improve upon personalization capabilities.

Overall, marketers are taking several steps to embed customer insights throughout their organization. About 44% said that they are making new technology investments, and 38% stated that they are increasing their defined CX budget.