Based on data collected from approximately 7 000 marketers across six continents, key trends highlighted in the survey reports that innovation is marketers' top priority, AI use has skyrocketed and account-based marketing has rapidly become a cornerstone in B2B.
The survey also indicates that emerging technologies, like 5G, augmented reality and virtual reality, are expected to have a major impact in the next decade.
These trends were reflected in the 200 South African responses gathered by Salesforce. According to the report, South African marketers say that their greatest challenges are unifying customer data sources, followed by the need to balance personalisation with customer comfort levels and innovating (which, according to the study, is both a top priority and challenge).
The research reports that marketers are shifting how they source and manage customer data. They are also ramping up the use of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) that help them make the most of it.
In South Africa, marketers are expected to go from four data sources in 2019 to six projected data sources in 2021. The study shows that 91% are using AI to personalise customer experiences. Other use cases include driving 'the next best actions' in real-time and improving customer segmentation.
The study indicates that marketers are increasingly tracking metrics like customer satisfaction, digital engagement, and lifetime customer value to gain a holistic picture of what's working and what isn't across the customer journey.
Additional findings ion the report suggests that B2B marketers have a particularly strong role in business growth through account-based marketing, and in South Africa, 60% of marketers track customer lifetime value to measure success.
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