Acquia’s Annual Customer Experience (CX) Trends Survey Reveals Challenges for Marketers

Access to robust customer data, personalizing content, and consumer perception of AI are major focus areas for marketers as expectations for better digital experiences rise

Acquia, the digital experience leader, released its annual Customer Experience (CX) Trends Report. Based on findings from a survey of marketers and consumers, the report highlights marketers’ desire to deliver digital customer experiences intuitively, with the ability to be fast to market, create clear customer journeys across digital channels, and generate human-centric content as top priorities.

Acquia will share key findings from the report for marketing and technology leaders at Engage Boston, the company’s flagship customer and partner event.

“There have never been more martech tools or platforms available, yet many marketers still struggle to quickly deliver productive digital experiences that maintain brand consistency and appropriate data governance”

“There have never been more martech tools or platforms available, yet many marketers still struggle to quickly deliver productive digital experiences that maintain brand consistency and appropriate data governance,” said Jennifer Griffin Smith, Chief Market Officer at Acquia. “At Acquia Engage we will share best practices from this research as well as real customer examples of how marketers can achieve more value from their tech stack and drive greater results.”

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Marketers Strive for Excellence as the Ground Shifts Beneath Them

83% of marketers say their organization is under pressure to deliver content differently to ensure they stand out to customers and prospects. Nearly all have recently changed their digital customer experience strategy to try to meet goals — often with little to no additional budget.

To better understand how marketers are juggling these demands, the survey asked what martech initiatives they believe have the greatest impact on digital customer experience. The top factor cited (35%) is ability to gather enough data about consumer preferences to create productive digital experiences, followed by (24%) ability to create enough personalized content.

Marketers say they’re looking to artificial intelligence (AI) to help, with nearly half (45%) sharing that generative AI is one of the top technologies having a positive impact on CX. Consumers, however, have mixed feelings about encountering use of AI on brands’ digital platforms. Only 40% report they have a positive emotion when they come across use of technology such as an AI chatbot.

Digital Experiences Must be Human-Centric

Creating digital experiences that are inclusive for all users, regardless of their abilities, is not only required from a standards and compliance standpoint, but adds business value. Creating accessible digital experiences is a top priority for 68% of marketers in the U.S.

There is also an opportunity for marketers to build trust with consumers to earn their willingness to provide first-party data as the phase-out of third-party browser cookies is completed in 2024. Roughly two-thirds (66%) of consumers say they get frustrated when brands appear to market to them because they searched about them or a similar brand online.

While not all consumers are comfortable giving their personal data to brands, willingness shifts with age. Among Gen Z, 80% of consumers surveyed said they are willing to give brands personal data in exchange for a better digital experience, but the figure drops to 55% for Baby Boomers.

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