What’s lurking behind this customer experience issue? There are a number of reasons, and data fragmentation is among them.

Consider for a moment at how fast data is growing each day. Worldwide digital data grows exponentially, and it’s expected to double every two years. What’s surprising is that only 0.5% of it is ever analyzed.

The profound volume and types of data created is a blessing and a curse for marketers. There’s an opportunity to harness this information, using it to make data-driven business decisions and providing more personalized experiences.

Data silos are among the top obstacles for marketers – where data lives and how it integrates with other systems so it can be accessed and used by the people who need it.

Other challenges involve technology and people. Many organizations lack the right analytics tools and people with the right skills or training that can turn data into insights.

How do you overcome this? And more importantly, how can you improve the 45% of consumers who aren’t satisfied with their experience?

When you employ a digital marketing platform like Adobe Marketing Cloud, you will be able to track, analyze, and report on customers’ activities across digital marketing channels – not just what happens on your website.

Want to learn more about demolishing data silos and solving other common digital marketing challenges? Download our latest guide below.

However, delivering a top-notch CX poses several challenges, particularly when it comes to integrating technology with existing marketing processes and platforms. Follow these seven expert tips to help you optimize your digital marketing platforms.

Like what you see? Download our guide, Solve Three Common Digital Marketing Challenges with Adobe Marketing Cloud.

“Marketers are no longer in the business of selling products – we are selling experiences.”

The proliferation of technology, such as smartphones and the Internet of Things, make it possible to engage with customers on a one-to-one basis. However, the challenge is meeting their expectations to provide continuous, consistent, and compelling experiences both digitally and in reality.

Clients often come to us with the same three digital marketing challenges that can be solved with a solid marketing technology platform. Our latest guide, “Solve Three Common Digital Marketing Challenges with Adobe Marketing Cloud,” explores the underlying factors that impact customer experience and how the right digital marketing platform can help you:

• Exceed customer expectations in B2B and B2C
• Create a seamless customer experience across all channels
• Use analytics to make data-driven marketing decisions

Our team was on the ground at Summit, learning about the latest innovations from Adobe and how marketers need to lead the transformation of creating an experience-led business.

Michael Porter, managing principal of Perficient’s strategic advisors, was among the team members at Summit, and he shares his perspective on the top three takeaways from the event.

What experiences or technologies at Adobe Summit impressed you the most?

1. Ad Wearout – prevent consumers from hitting “unsubscribe”
2. X Attribution – track conversions throughout the journey
3. Adaptive Store – personal shopping that integrates mobile & retail

What technologies did you see at Summit this week that impressed you?

Among 10,000+ Summit attendees, I was blown away by the announcements and demos during the General Session. Here are the highlights, in case you missed the livestream or didn’t follow along on Twitter:

“This is the Experience Era.”

This eloquently sums up the opening remarks made by Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe. According to Narayen, experiences will be the competitive differentiator for businesses. Experiences start with great content and are powered by data.

Photo by Beth Martin, @betz826

Brad Rencher, Executive Vice President of Adobe, echoed this in his talk: “We’re in the third wave of digital transformation for the enterprise, and it’s about the consumer experience.”

He talked about the four success factors for creating great experiences:

1. Know and respect me
2. Speak in one voice
3. Make technology transparent
4. Delight me at every turn

Rencher also said, “The experience wave is about goosebumps, smiles, and bringing people closer together. It’s the marketer’s job to close the gap between people and the things they want. Then get out of the way.”

McDonald’s Embraces the Experience-Led Business

Photo by Alexander Hopstein, @Digit_Alex

Did you ever wonder why McDonald’s started offering breakfast all day? During Rencher’s engaging discussion with Deborah Wahl, CMO of McDonald’s, we learned that the customer was at the heart of this decision.

And when it came to embracing digital in their business model, such as the McDonald’s app or ordering food using a kiosk, Wahl had this to say:

“In digital, there are a lot of shiny toys. We had to focus on timing and balance to get the experience right. We identified the biggest customer need first and provided offers before embracing the ‘shiny objects.’”

McDonald’s mobile app launch mid-year in 2015, and since then, the business has already seen 10 million downloads.

“We’re on a quick journey to be in line with our customer,” Wahl stated.

Order Dunkin Donuts from Your Tesla

Photo by Jay Baer, @jaybaer

In the final segment of the General Session, David Nuescheler, VP of Enterprise Technology at Adobe, demonstrated the possibilities of connecting mobile technology in the physical world.

From using your smartphone – with your purchase preferences – to click and confirm your order at a with a Dunkin Donuts kiosk…

To placing your drive-thru order using your in-car connection – even a Tesla!

I’m looking forward to what’s in store for Day 2, and I would love to know what stood out to you among all the information shared during Day 1.

What were your favorite moments at Adobe Summit?

“I can’t live without my… [fill in the blank].”

Many of us might answer smartphone, tablet, eReader, or wearable device (like our smartwatches or FitBits). This rampant proliferation of technology has opened our eyes to the possibilities of customer engagement.

It’s no wonder that capitalizing on analytics is a top priority for marketers. According to a recent Forbes article:

• 89% of marketers have predictive analytics on their roadmap for 2016
• 49% use predictive analytics today
• 40% plan to implement analytics in the next 12 months

In our interview series with Robert Sumner, principal of Perficient’s Adobe practice, we talked about the path to personalization and the challenges of implementing a personalization strategy.

However, the insights gained from analytics make it possible to create engaging, personalized experiences. Sumner shares his perspective on analytics:

No matter where you are on your digital marketing journey, we’re ready to help you navigate your transformation. Come chat with our team in booth #530 at Adobe Summit, March 20-24, 2016. You can also follow members of the Perficient team on Twitter during the event, @PRFTDigitalTech.

Aligning the right people, technology, and funding to create such an experience isn’t an easy task. With the help of a partner, like Perficient, your digital marketing journey can be smoother – and even enjoyable!

Earlier this week, we announced our sponsorship and participation at the upcoming Adobe Summit, where we’re helping enterprises “Navigate the Next.”

So what does this mean?

Wherever you are on your digital marketing journey, we’re here to take your business to the next level, which might be:

• Creating engaging customer experiences
• Developing an analytics targeting engine
• Planning and executing personalized marketing campaigns

The Perficient-Adobe partnership is unique because of our Adobe solutions expertise and how we work with clients to implement technologies that will maximize their investment.

In a recent discussion with Lynn Brading, she pinpointed the value of our partnership:

“By working closely alongside Adobe, we’ve uncovered opportunities within organizations where we can make an impact, such as solving a digital maturity issue or building a roadmap to advance clients from where they are in their digital marketing to where they want to be.

“Adobe has the very best solutions for solving such issues, and we bring those solutions to life,” she stated.

Bottom line – you don’t have to go it alone on the journey. And if you’re heading to Adobe Summit, stop by and talk to our team in booth #530. You can also follow Perficient team members on Twitter during the event, @PRFTDigitalTech.

In our discussion, we also talked about creating personalization scenarios and the implications of this at time of deployment. One of the challenges many companies face is that they tend to have multiple target audience segments which then requires multiple personalization scenarios.

Sumner expands on this thought here:

Additionally, a report from Webtrends reveals that digital marketers face other challenges when it comes to implementing a personalization strategy:

• Lack of organizational alignment and unclear priorities – 76% of marketers stated this is the biggest hurdle preventing them from achieving digital marketing objectives.

• Limited marketing budgets – 68% of companies stated lack of funds is an issue, even though an increasing proportion of their marketing budgets are slated for digital strategy.

• Scarce skills and resources – 66% of companies believe they don’t have enough people to meet their digital marketing goals, and 57% stated that lack of digital marketing expertise of their current staff stands in their way.

• Available technology – 62% of marketers said that not having the right technology in place prevents them from delivering a personalized experience.

With the evolution of social media platforms and the explosion of mobile technology use, you’re well aware that creating personalized, 1 to 1 interactions with the customer is essential to remain competitive.

You don’t have to go it alone on your digital marketing journey. We’re ready to help you navigate your transformation. If you’re headed to Adobe Summit next week, stop by and talk to our team in booth #530. You can also follow Perficient team members on Twitter during the event, @PRFTDigitalTech.

“Only in the last 20 years have we seen marketing change from spending money to interrupt people with advertising to market everything you make and everything you say…a lot of marketers didn’t get that memo.” – Seth Godin

The average consumer goes through a minimum of five touch points with a business before converting, according to Adobe. As the number of digital experience platforms between brands and consumers continue to increase, we can also expect to the number of touch points to rise.

With the evolution of social media and the explosion of mobile technology, most marketers are well aware that their future success depends upon creating personalized, 1 to 1 interactions with the customer.

Transitioning from siloed marketing efforts to one that’s connected and personalized to the individual is not for the faint of heart. Webtrends outlines the path to personalization in four stages:

1. Apply basic context to influence personalization
2. Use specific in-session behaviors to influence content
3. Leverage in-session behaviors with historical behaviors
4. Achieve 1:1 personalization using predictive analysis

I recently spoke with Robert Sumner, principal of Perficient’s Adobe practice, to learn more about personalization and where marketers can begin on this journey. Check out the video for more:

No matter where you are on your digital marketing journey, we’re ready to help you navigate your transformation. Come chat with our team in booth #530 at Adobe Summit, March 20-24, 2016. You can also follow members of the Perficient team on Twitter during the event, @PRFTDigitalTech.