Today, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, in collaboration with Deloitte Digital, the experience consultancy, published a new report, –“Data-Driven Decisioning Powers CX Forward.” The new report details the challenges and best practices for defining and progressing toward an ideal customer experience (CX).

The insights are based on two surveys of over 300 marketing leaders across a wide range of industries.

Download the full report at https://cmocouncil.org/thought-leadership/reports/data-driven-decisioning-powers-cx-forward

“Data-Driven Decisioning Powers CX Forward” highlights the time horizon to ideal CX and AI, operational and advanced data capabilities, the importance of a customer data platform, and overcoming a skills shortage.

Ideal CX is about tailoring a message to a customer in a way that moves the customer down the funnel and toward a transaction, whether that’s a sales conversion or an information exchange, with as little friction as possible. Further, ideal data science/AI/ML capabilities provide CX with enough data to make informed decisions around what to do next, i.e., the next best action or next best offer.

The report found opportunity for improvement:

* 69% of marketing leaders are still developing or defining their CX strategy

* 40% believe it will take well over a year to deliver ideal CX

* 14% say ideal data science/AI/ML capabilities are more than 18 months away

* 65% agree connecting siloed data/content is the biggest challenge

“Much is on the line, given the transformative powers of using data and AI to create richer CX,” said Donovan Neale-May, Executive Director of the CMO Council. “In order to achieve such a

competitive advantage, our study points to the need for more and better: more data, better data, more technology, and better technology, along with data governance and data analytics.”

The top five challenges for marketers in pursuit of ideal CX include:

1. Connecting siloed data and content from multiple systems


2. Creating cross-channel customer experiences


3. Having the right skill sets in place internally


4. Having an incomplete view of the customer


5. Having poor alignment/collaboration across teams

“The days of personalization as a ‘nice to have’ are long gone. Today’s customer expects that the brands they do business with are invested enough to serve them in a way that is efficient, transparent and unique only to them,” commented Michelle McGuire, Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and National Market Offering Leader - Experience Management at Deloitte Digital. “Our research found that many brands are still lagging behind in implementing the AI needed to create the immaculate, branded CX their customers demand. Our hope is that this report can help CMOs and organizations still teetering on the edge of embracing this technology see how it can provide them with the tools needed to achieve ideal CX.” 

Earlier this year, the CMO Council and Deloitte Digital collaborated on the report “Humanizing + Analyzing Relationships To Drive Revenue, Retention And Returns.” 

About the CMO Council

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council is the only global network of executives specifically dedicated to high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal relationship building among senior corporate marketing leaders and brand decision-makers across a wide range of global industries. The CMO Council's 16,000-plus members control approximately $1 trillion in aggregated annual marketing expenditures and run complex, distributed marketing and sales operations worldwide. In total, the CMO Council and its strategic interest communities include more than 65,000 global executives in more than 110 countries covering multiple industries, segments and markets. For more information, visit https://www.cmocouncil.org.

About Deloitte

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