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Real-Time Marketing
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in association with Monetate
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Real-Time
Marketing
Report
Published February 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording
or any information storage and retrieval system, without
prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014
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Contents
1. Executive Summary and Highlights ................................ 4
1.1.
Methodology ................................................................................ 5
2. Foreword by Monetate..................................................... 6
2.1.
2.2.
About Monetate ........................................................................... 7
About Econsultancy .................................................................... 7
3. What Does Real Time Mean to Your Customers? ........... 8
4. The Benefits of True Real-Time Marketing .................... 11
5. Customers, Culture and the Experience of Tomorrow . 13
6. The Variables of Real-Time Marketing ..........................17
7. Importance of Technology and Data ............................. 21
8. Don’t Forget the Human Side of the Equation.............. 24
9. The Near Future of Real-Time Marketing ..................... 27
10. Appendix: Respondent Profiles ..................................... 30
Real-Time Marketing Report in association with Monetate
Page 3
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014
1.
Executive Summary and Highlights
With customers wanting to increasingly drive their brand experiences, marketers have realised
they need to rely on far more than their reputations and internal efficiencies to outpace
competitors. Instead, they’re focused on targeting their customers in a near instantaneous
manner, using specific data points to personalise messages and product offerings across all
channels and devices.
With this approach to reaching customers in its infancy for most brands, Econsultancy, in
association with Monetate, surveyed nearly 900 marketers across the world to provide a
snapshot of real-time marketing in 2014. What follows is those findings, a baseline for marketers
to use when assessing their plans for this year and beyond.
Though most of those surveyed recognise the importance of delivering winning experiences to
their customers in a near instantaneous manner, marketers are finding real-time marketing to be
full of challenges.
Marketers largely said they are lacking the technology to collect disparate data sources into one
centralised database and the skilled employees to leverage that data. They also said they need
their…
Real-Time Marketing Report in association with Monetate
Page 4
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014
1.1.
Methodology
The Econsultancy / Monetate Real-Time Marketing report is based on a survey of almost 900
client-side marketers and agency respondents. Information about the online survey was emailed
to Econsultancy’s user base of digital professionals and marketers, and promoted online via
Twitter and other channels during November and December 2013.
The incentive for taking part in the survey was access to a complimentary copy of this report just
before its publication on the Econsultancy website.
A total of 880 respondents took part in the survey, including 44% who are client-side marketing
professionals and 56% from the supply side (including agency marketers, consultants and those
working for technology vendors or other service providers).
For more detailed profiling of respondents, see Section 10.
Real-Time Marketing Report in association with Monetate
Page 5
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014
2.
Foreword by Monetate
Last year, when we worked with Econsultancy to publish the Realities of Online Personalisation
report1, a significant portion of the 1,100 marketers surveyed said they understood the importance
of real-time marketing, but didn’t know where to start. In short, they were acknowledging what
we’ve believed for some time now: that today’s marketing is broken.
This year’s report continues that conversation, offering an international snapshot of where
companies and agencies are in their quest to become real-time marketers, what advantages early
adopters are seeing, and what’s been holding back those who are gearing up now.
Those organisations already carrying out real-time marketing experiences for their customers
(which include delivering relevant information and product offerings across all channels and
devices, personalising interactions based on previous interactions, and tailoring offers and
messages according to geography, weather and time of day) have reported a 26% uplift in their
conversion rates.
But despite the clear commercial opportunities that result from real-time engagement, the
research shows many companies are either yet to embark on a more responsive and
instantaneous approach to marketing, despite knowing they should, or are struggling to be as
agile as they would like.
So what’s holding these companies back?
The challenges companies face boil down to data, technology, company culture and skills within
the organisation. In the context of real-time marketing, only 29% of client-side respondents
believe they have a strong data capability while this figure drops to 21% for marketing technology.
As well as barriers to success relating to disconnected data sources and cumbersome technology,
there are also problems for companies relating to the all-important people side of the equation,
and the development of a culture which is conducive to real-time marketing.
At Monetate, we have created a solution that eliminates each of those barriers. Our technology
allows you to deliver those winning customer experiences on your website, in your email and
anywhere else on the web without disrupting your current partners. And because our technology
is easy to use, our customers are running 10 times more real-time marketing campaigns than they
did previously, helping them grow 39% faster than their competitors.
We hope this research helps you to gain a better understanding of the opportunities afforded by
real-time marketing, either to improve your capabilities in this area or to kick-start real-time
marketing from scratch. We look forward to hearing your stories about how you’re making this
work.
Bruce Ernst
Vice President, Product Management
Monetate
1
http://econsultancy.com/reports/the-realities-of-online-personalisation-report
Real-Time Marketing Report in association with Monetate
Page 6
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and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014
2.1.
About Monetate
Monetate generates billions of dollars of new revenue for businesses, helping them grow 39%
faster than the industry average. Brands such as Best Buy, National Geographic, and Celebrity
Cruises rely on Monetate to put the customer first, creating winning customer experiences that
drive a sustained, competitive advantage.
The Monetate Acceleration Cloud connects two crucial elements that have always been treated
separately within organisations: knowledge about the customer and marketing actions to deliver a
better experience. Delight your customers with winning customer experiences that build
authentic relationships and drive new revenue across any channel, all within one seamless
solution.
For more information about Monetate, visit www.monetate.com.
2.2.
About Econsultancy
Econsultancy’s mission is to help its customers achieve excellence in digital business, marketing
and ecommerce through research, training and events.
Founded in 1999, Econsultancy has offices in New York, London and Singapore.
Econsultancy is used by over 600,000 professionals every month. Subscribers get access to
research, market data, best practice guides, case studies and elearning – all focused on helping
individuals and enterprises get better at digital.
The subscription is supported by digital transformation services including digital capability
programmes, training courses, skills assessments and audits. We train and develop thousands of
professionals each year as well as running events and networking that bring the Econsultancy
community together around the world.
Subscribe to Econsultancy today to accelerate your journey to digital excellence.
Call us to find out more:
 New York: +1 212 971 0630
 London: +44 207 269 1450
 Singapore: +65 6809 2088
Real-Time Marketing Report in association with Monetate
Page 7
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014
3.
What Does Real Time Mean to Your
Customers?
Marketing is never a completely spontaneous activity. By its very nature, communication with
target audiences requires a level of knowledge (stemming from data and insight) about what the
audience wants and how the product or service offered meets their needs. This processing of
knowledge to decide on how to engage with audiences cannot happen without planning.
Any calculation or assessment, whether done by man or machine, requires some time period to be
executed. But the advent of new technology has meant that marketers are now looking to do this
calculation and assessment near instantaneously, in order to benefit from the fact that their target
audiences are now always on and always connected. Against this back-drop, the concept of realtime marketing has recently become more popular, particularly as the explosion in data has
created new sources of information that can be used to the marketer’s advantage.
However, a key question needs answering: how fast is ‘real time’?
As shown in Figure 1, more than four-fifths of all
respondents (80% company, 82% agency) said that
responses should…
Figure 1: How do you define real time?
Real-time marketing is
very quick. Technology
is a necessity for the
speed required.
Company respondents: 295
Agency respondents: 367
How would you describe the expectations of the modern consumer and your
ability to deliver on those expectations?
“A consumer expects personalisation – to know who they are, where they are and provide…”
Survey respondents
Real-Time Marketing Report in association with Monetate
Page 8
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and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014
4.
The Benefits of True Real-Time
Marketing
In order to understand the driving forces behind the move towards real-time marketing, both
company and agency respondents were asked to provide details of what they perceive as the main
benefits of real-time marketing. Their aggregated responses are shown in Figure 4.
The two benefits which were cited by more than half of all respondents were a better customer
experience (84% for companies, 82% for agencies) and…
Figure 2: What do you or your clients perceive as the main benefits of real-time
marketing?
Company respondents: 177
Agency respondents: 278
Real-Time Marketing Report in association with Monetate
Page 9
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and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014
5.
Customers, Culture and the Experience
of Tomorrow
“Consumers are now used to having everything they want, when they want it. There is no
margin for error any more for the wrong message, the wrong time, the wrong audience or the
wrong product.”
Respondent, Econsultancy / Monetate Real-Time Marketing Survey
It started with search engines. Almost immediately, they began to recalibrate what people
expected from media, stores and brands. Instead of being content with the products and services
that were pushed at them, consumers came to realise they could find what they wanted.
But unlimited choice created its own complications; buyers also wanted sellers to help them
narrow the field, and they wanted the process to be fast and nearly invisible.
That shift began over a decade ago. Where are they now?
 The individual exerts some control over their commercial life. Low-cost shipping,
combined with…
Figure 3: Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
Respondents: 326
Real-Time Marketing Report in association with Monetate
Page 10
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and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014
6.
Appendix: Respondent Profiles
Figure 4: In which country / region are you based?
Respondents: 869
Figure 5: What is your annual company turnover?
Company respondents: 237
Agency respondents: 305
Real-Time Marketing Report in association with Monetate
Page 11
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Figure 6: What best describes your job role?
Company respondents: 238
Agency respondents: 306
Figure 7: Is your company mainly focused on business-to-business (B2B) or
business-to-consumer (B2C)?
Company respondents: 227
Agency respondents: 303
Real-Time Marketing Report in association with Monetate
Page 12
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and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014
Figure 8: In which business sector is your organisation?
Respondents: 226
Real-Time Marketing Report in association with Monetate
Page 13
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © Econsultancy.com Ltd 2014