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How many businesses have a single customer view?

Author's avatar By Dave Chaffey 22 Jun, 2017
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Chart of the Day: Is a 360 degree customer view a myth or a reality?

I have been involved in marketing since the mid 1990s and I was brought up by Martha Peppers and Don Rogers, authors of 1:1 marketing encouraging businesses to develop a single customer view. The nirvana of a single customer view for large organisations is that all employees from marketing and sales through to customer service can easily harness profile information about a customer and all their marketing communications interactions with a company plus their sales and service transactions.

Since that time we have had an explosion of channels, martech and data which has made the theory difficult to put into practice. So I found this insight from Blue Venn on marketers perception of the SCV interesting:

On the positive side it's good and actually surprising that the percentage of marketers who think a SCV is possible is sub 10% and nearly 20% claim to have a 360 degree customer view. However more than two thirds do not have a Single Customer View. The other insight on use of data to deliver real-time personalisation and optimisation are similar and show a similar picture.

  • Source: Blue Venn Marketing Myths report
  • Sample: 200 US and UK-based marketers
  • Recommended Smart Insights resource: Multichannel Marketing Plan Quick Win template
Author's avatar

By Dave Chaffey

Digital strategist Dr Dave Chaffey is co-founder and Content Director of online marketing training platform and publisher Smart Insights. 'Dr Dave' is known for his strategic, but practical, data-driven advice. He has trained and consulted with many business of all sizes in most sectors. These include large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses. Dave is editor of the templates, guides and courses in our digital marketing resource library used by our Business members to plan, manage and optimize their marketing. Free members can access our free sample templates here. Dave is also keynote speaker, trainer and consultant who is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. In 2004 he was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing. My personal site, DaveChaffey.com, lists my latest Digital marketing and E-commerce books and support materials including a digital marketing glossary. Please connect on LinkedIn to receive updates or ask me a question.

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Multichannel marketing plan

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