What is the biggest challenge for marketers so far in 2015?

Digital Velocity Europe 2015 is just around the corner, on 11th June, and we are looking forward to another great day of discussing the latest digital trends, as well as ongoing challenges and opportunities, with some of the brightest minds in the industry. At last year’s event we interviewed a number of clients and partners to understand their key marketing challenges and what they were preparing for the months ahead. It will be fascinating to see if and how the conversation has moved on and which challenges remain.

Here’s a round up from the video.

Collection and consolidation of data – With the development and evolution of platforms and partners, marketers face the increasingly complex challenge of collecting data, creating a holistic customer view, and delivering timely, relevant and personalised messages. Tracking how each of these platforms and technologies are contributing to the business is critical for helping marketers understand which tools are best for their business. Once the tracking is set up and the ideal platforms and partners are in place, creating that holistic view of your customers becomes easier. Understanding who owns this data is key to executing marketing campaigns that will have the right impact.

Achieving a real-time response rate – Being able to respond to customers in real time as they’re navigating online is a huge challenge that a lot of businesses will be facing. Responding to customers quickly can make the difference between a customer conversion, or having the customer leave for a competitor’s website.

Optimising attribution – The measurement of which marketing activities contribute to business revenue is traditionally placed on last-click conversion. But to achieve a better understanding of how each of the different marketing activities work together, an attribution model is key. By looking at the performance of different touch points across the buying cycle, businesses will be better equipped to invest within each marketing channel and will understand the next step the customer is likely to take. Putting a value on each channel is a big step for a business, but allows for more clarity across channel performance and how this impacts the overall business revenue.

Integration – ‘Integrated marketing’ is a term that has been bandied about for a long time. Realistically however, we need to stop viewing each channel as a silo, and look at the ‘integration of channels.’ Brands also need to look at all marketing as having a digital component. Consumers don’t think in channels, they expect accurate and timely messages based on their previous behaviour and what they’re looking for right now.

Huge thanks to Andy Mullice, e-commerce manager from Urban Outfitters; Jonathan Beacher, ISV account executive from ExactTarget; Katherine Passmore, online acquisitions manager from Charles Tyrwhitt; and Damian Scragg, managing director EMEA from Ghostery; for contributing to this video.