Use of customer insight still lagging

Less than half of UK financial directors and managers believe that companies in their industry sector are using customer data to drive their marketing. According to a survey by KDB, only 43 per cent of senior financial executives believe that their peer group is able to access and analyse customer data for use in marketing.

Levels of believed usage varied widely, with 72 per cent of those in hospitality and catering saying customer insight was being used, compared to travel and transport at 65 per cent and banking at 50 per cent. Sectors where perceptions of insight’s role were particularly low were retail (38 per cent), media and marketing (36 per cent), utilities and telecoms (36 per cent) and healthcare (29 per cent).

Matt Boot, chief analyst at KDB, says: “Using customer data to inform your marketing strategy is vital in the current economic environment. Smart companies use such insight both to get more out of existing customers and to make sure they are approaching the right potential customers in a way that will work.”

He adds: “Customer data is a tool that is right there at the disposal of most companies and it helps them to make sure they are focusing on the sorts of customers that will help keep up their margins and cashflow in the face of the recession. The last thing marketers want to be doing at the moment is wasting their budgets on less profitable and loyal consumers. The effective use of customer insight helps them identify the right targets for their marketing.”