62% of marketers avoid behavioural marketing because of privacy concerns
Nearly two thirds (62 per cent) of marketers avoid behavioural marketing because of the privacy concerns of customers, according to a new study by Forrester commissioned by Silverpop.
Behavioural marketing is the practice of capturing data generated by visiting websites, or responding to social media comments, and using it to increase the effectiveness of campaigns.
The vast majority of respondents to the study understood the benefits, with 57 per cent forecasting more than 10 per cent improvement in customer satisfaction; 61 per cent forecasting more than 10% improvement in marketing-attributed revenue; and 58 per cent anticipating more than 10 per cent improvement in ROMI.
Yet only 33 per cent of the 151 marketers surveyed said they considered themselves “mature practitioners”.
“When prospective customers interact with companies they expect more — more personal, more relevant and more timely communications,” said Lori Wizdo, principal analyst with Forrester Research. “Marketers need to constantly and automatically evolve their programs based on how their buyers react to their marketing messages. Behavioural marketing is no longer an option — it’s table stakes.”
Looking at why there is a discrepancy, 78 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement ‘we are held back in our adoption of behavioural marketing because of our marketing technology’, and 62 per cent agreed with the statement ‘we avoid behavioural marketing because of our customers’ privacy concerns’.
However, B2B and B2C marketers have accepted multichannel marketing as a best practice, with 52 per cent stating that they are already in transition to adopting these processes.
Only one per cent said that they had no interest in doing so.