Dive Brief:

• The Chief Marketing Officer Council released a new study on omnichannel alignment across all marketing efforts and found that 49% of respondents said bridging digital and physical customer experiences is “selective at best,” according to an organization press release.
• 38% of surveyed marketers report that their digital strategies have produced mixed results at best.
• To meet this challenge, 42% plan on better integrating campaigns into comprehensive and connected customer experiences, 37% said they intend to address connecting physical and digital experiences and 29% expect to invest in data management technology and talent to optimize their martech stacks.

Dive Insight:

Despite now being around for years, channels like mobile and digital marketing are still relatively young and being figured out at the individual level, as the CMO Council's findings on digital shortcomings shows. The overriding need for truly omnichannel programs that has recently emerged makes for a bit of a headache then, as it can be difficult to connect real-world marketing efforts to digital when successful digital approaches have yet to be sorted. 

Mobile marketing is proving to be one of the most effective ways to link to physical customer experience, especially through efforts like geo-targeted and offline behavior-based advertising and mobile moments. Bridging social media with in-store promotions and campaigns can also be a solid way to connect the two channels. 

One key change in marketing highlighted by the CMO Council study is that 60% of respondents said that digital has altered their content strategies in requiring more content, and 44% said digital has created a greater need for aggregated data pulled from across offerings.

This sort of fragmentation and proliferation of digital data and content offerings has not only tripped up marketers but also ad agencies. Many brands like Pepsi have started to move digital and social media marketing efforts in-house as agencies are slow to adjust, though the CMO council study suggests few in the industry, agencies or otherwise, have found proper footing amid growing digital disruption.