Study Finds UK Marketers Leading Global Effort to Deliver Personalized, Multi-Channel Campaigns

Nearly 70% of UK Marketers Use Different Channels for Different Customer Segments

LONDON (7 October 2009) – A new study released today found more UK marketers use segmented, multi-channel marketing campaigns than marketers in other countries, allowing UK brands to better connect with customers and generate increased revenue.

Featured in the new Strategy Meets Customer Expectations Whitepaper published by on-demand email marketing and one-to-one marketing provider ExactTarget , the whitepaper features research that found that while 68 percent of UK marketers deliver multi-channel marketing messages based on customer segments only 35 percent actually know which channels their customers prefer.

UK marketers are increasingly relying on email with more than half of all UK marketers reporting that email touches all areas of their marketing campaigns, according to research in the whitepaper. Text messaging is also emerging as a channel of choice for UK marketers with more than 70 percent of marketers citing the channel as an effective medium to deliver alerts.

Social media emerged as the channel that generated the most optimism from marketers. According to research featured in the whitepaper, nearly 70 percent of marketers surveyed reported they believe opportunities to market via social networks will be around for the foreseeable future.

"UK marketers are harnessing the power of multi-channel messaging more frequently than marketers in any other country," said Peter McCormick, general manager and co-founder of ExactTarget. "However, much like their contemporaries in the United States, UK marketers often mistake consumers’ personal communication preferences with their marketing communication preferences."

The Strategy Meets Customer Expectations Whitepaper identified the realities of this growing divide between marketers and consumers. Research contained in the whitepaper identified the variances in marketers’ and consumers’ preferences in nearly every channel, including direct mail, email, text messaging and phone.

Findings of the research contained in the whitepaper include:

* 44 percent of UK consumers prefer to receive alerts via text message, while 74 percent of marketers believe the channel is the best way to deliver alerts.
* 46 percent of UK marketers currently use social media to market, while 65 percent of UK consumers report ignoring advertisements on social media.
* 69 percent of women aged 18 to 24 prefer text messaging to communicate with friends and family, while only 12 percent of the group report they made a purchase as a result of a text message with a marketer. (This compares to more than half of the group that reports they made a purchase as a result of direct mail or email).

In addition to identifying the challenges UK marketers face in harnessing the power of consumer preferences, the whitepaper recommends UK marketers implement three key recommendations:

1. Technology is a must – marketers need to use technology to drive coordinated interaction across multiple channels. According to the study, marketers who realise better results have access to technology that allows them to strengthen their multi-channel programmes, yet 68 percent of marketers examined believed they need more comprehensive and integrated application suites

2. Permission remains more important than ever - Consumers understand that they have choices, and expect marketers to deliver meaningful information, tailored to their individual needs. Consumers do not want to hear from marketers whom they have NOT invited to contact them – 29 percent of consumers believe unsolicited promotions are unacceptable through any channel.

3. Budgets, channels limit multi-channel campaigns – 80 percent of marketers want to improve their multi-channel programmes, yet 60 percent become stuck in isolating channel-focused budget competitions. The ExactTarget survey shows that more than half the time multi-channel initiatives are the result of individual channel campaigns.

The Strategy Meets Customer Expectations Whitepaper is available for download free of charge online at www.ExactTarget.com/UKpreferences .

Source: ExactTarget