by Jack Loechner, Staff Writer @mp_research, June 24, 2016
According to Evergage and Researchscape International, the new annual study on the State Of Personalization found that 85% of companies are now implementing some form of personalization. However, most companies’ personalization initiatives barely make the grade, with the majority of marketers (55%) giving their own, and their competitors’ (63%), efforts a grade of “C” or lower.
When it comes to the importance of the marketing initiatives that organizations are implementing, search engine optimization (SEO) is “very” or “extremely” important to 79% of respondents, closely followed by email marketing and content marketing (78% and 75% respectively) and personalization (74%).
55% of respondents from organizations that are not implementing any personalization yet, plan to use website or in-app personalization (web or mobile) within the next year. Of those already using personalization, 89% report an improvement or “lift”, and of those, 53% have seen a lift of 10% or more, relying most heavily on personalized messages or experiences in inline content and information bar, says the report.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is very or extremely important to 79% of responding organizations implementing, closely followed by email marketing and content marketing and personalization of all types.
Marketing Initiatives In Order Of Importance For Your Organization | ||
Marketing Initiative | Very Important | Extremely Important |
Search engine optimization SEO | 42% | 37% |
Customer loyalty | 33 | 41 |
Email marketing | 43 | 35 |
Personalization | 40 | 34 |
Content marketing | 41 | 34 |
Adwords/PPC | 45 | 28 |
Mobile marketing | 31 | 35 |
Social Media Communications | 33 | 22 |
Source: Engage/ResearchScape International, June 2016 | ||
A majority of organizations surveyed are personalizing email and their website. Only 27% are personalizing their mobile website. Mobile and web applications are the least selected channel for personalization.
Use of Personalization | |
Personalization Utilization | % of Respondents |
67% | |
Website | 56 |
Mobile website | 27 |
Mobile app | 20 |
Web application | 19 |
None of the above | 15 |
Source: Engage/ResearchScape International, June 2016 | |
The two most-used types of personalized messages are inline content (text or images inserted dynamically within the page content) and information bars (messages across top or bottom of page.) Only 12% of respondents don’t use any of the listed personalization message types.
Types Of Personalized Messages Or Experiences Used (All That Apply) | |
Content | % Using |
Inline content | 53% |
Information bars | 48 |
Pop-ups | 42 |
Call-outs | 40 |
Inline edits | 34 |
Survey questions | 33 |
Other | 4 |
None of above | 8 |
Source: Engage/ResearchScape International, June 2016 | |
The majority of respondents using website/in-app personalization realize the following benefits:
- An increase in conversion rates (65%)
- Increased visitor engagement (62%)
- Improved customer experience (61%)
- 46% and 45% respectively see increased lead generation and customer acquisition
- 36% reported increases in customer lifetime value/loyalty
The greatest obstacle to making real-time personalization a bigger priority in the respondents’ organizations is the lack of budget, with lack of personnel a close second. Lack of knowledge/skills is the third most common obstacle, says the report.
The Greatest Obstacles To Making Website/In-App Personalization A Bigger Priority In Organization? (All That Apply) | |
Obstacle | % of Responses |
Lack of budget | 59% |
Lack of personnel | 50 |
Lack of knowledge/skills | 48 |
IT department constraints | 29 |
Poor technology solutions | 21 |
Lack of business case | 20 |
Access to data | 19 |
Lack of executive sponsorship | 18 |
Too many technology solutions | 17 |
Company culture | 14 |
Source: Engage/ResearchScape International, June 2016 | |
The report from Evergage is available with sign-in here.
MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily
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