Q3 2019 Report Features Original Research on CRM Practices and Strategies Focused on Customer Experience, Promotions and Leveraging the Cloud

Merkle, a leading technology-enabled, data-driven performance marketing agency, has introduced a new quarterly report focused on the discipline of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The Customer Engagement Report series features original research with marketing statistics and trends. It provides insights into key strategies to help marketing leaders make better-informed business decisions.

The Customer Engagement Report: Q3 2019 features findings from a Merkle survey of more than 200 marketers at major North American brands in June 2019. According to the survey, 32% of marketers would look to invest in more data, technology, and analytics before any other option to bolster their CRM efforts. Additionally, the report found that email offers the most efficient way to deliver personalized experiences. The research shows that 68% of marketers identify email as the highest priority customer data type to acquire and 78% of respondents deliver personalized experiences in email using customer data.

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Additional insights from the report include:

• 52% of marketers cite email as the most valuable marketing channel proven for retaining customers.
• 59% of marketers have either never invested or are reducing their budget in direct mail.
• 25% of marketers outsource creative work, while 45% collaborate with vendors to achieve creative goals.

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“CRM has seen great change in recent years as brands move towards more data-driven marketing strategies. Merkle saw an opportunity to help marketers navigate the CRM landscape and evolving consumer expectations through this report series. As the CRM agency for over 100 leading brands, we believe these key insights will help marketers make better business decisions and get the most out of their people-based marketing programs,” said Yara Lutz, SVP, CRM capability lead at Merkle.

In addition to these insights, the report explores Merkle’s point of view on key CRM challenges, including customer experience maturity, leveraging promotional tactics to enhance customer data, and connecting data silos using cloud platforms to create a 360-degree view of the customer.

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