Lack of strategy biggest obstacle to multichannel marketing campaigns

A lack of strategy, poor organisational structure and disparate technologies are the main barriers preventing companies from adopting integrated marketing campaigns.

That’s according to the Cross-Channel Marketing Report from Econsultancy and Responsys – based on a survey of more than 650 digital marketers – which found less than a third of marketers rate their multichannel campaigns as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’.

Respondents cited a lack of a clearly defined strategy as the greatest barrier to success (25%), followed by fragmentation of departments and poor organisational structures (23%), and misaligned technology and systems (14%).

Additionally, the research showed a ‘discernible positive impact’ on conversion rates when organisations integrate different channels with display advertising.

According to the figures, 59% of companies claimed integrating display advertising with social media has had a positive impact on conversions, while 55% said integration with mobile resulted in an uplift.

Linus Gregoriadis, research director at Econsultancy said: “It is encouraging that companies are beginning to integrate a wealth of different online and offline channels, but as this survey has shown, there is still a long way to go.

“Mobile and email are two areas where companies are still only undertaking basic integration, but as the survey findings show, there are clear benefits to employing an integrated approach, with significant impact on conversions.”