-- Despite significant increase in budgets globally, marketers' utilization of 
personalization and AI still limited

In partnership with Sitecore(R) ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2454084-1&h=3696564295&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sitecore.com%2F&a=Sitecore%C2%AE 
), the global leader in digital experience management software, SoDA has 
released The SoDA Report On… Global Trends in Personalization, highlighting 
challenges and opportunities for global business leaders in digital experience 
personalization. The SoDA Report On is a white-paper series spun from the 
larger annual trend publication, The SoDA Report, used by today's top agencies 
and brands to understand the dynamics impacting the future of marketing.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/334493/sitecore_logo.jpg 

In this latest Report, SoDA and Sitecore explore the evolution of digital 
personalization and examine the strategies and tools required to produce the 
most effective consumer experience. The findings revealed that 83% of marketing 
leaders and C-level executives increased their investments in personalization 
efforts for 2019 with 32% pointing to a "significant budget increase" this 
year. 

When deployed effectively, personalization enhances customers' lives and 
increases engagement and loyalty by delivering messages that are tuned to and 
even anticipate what customers really want. However, while marketing leaders 
and C-level executives clearly recognize the importance of personalization, the 
majority appear to overestimate their current capabilities. When it comes to 
digital experience personalization, 67% of global leaders rate their 
organizations as "Masters" or "Experts" with robust and advanced levels of 
personalization capabilities. However, while rating themselves highly in terms 
of organizational maturity, less than 40% are currently utilizing even the most 
basic targeting criteria for personalization.

"There's no doubt that digital experience personalization is a growing priority 
for marketing leaders and C-level executives across the globe," says Tom Beck, 
Executive Director at SoDA. "While our data shows increased spending to improve 
capabilities, the majority of organizations still point to constrained budgets, 
limitations with their technology platform, and challenges with their data as 
some of the biggest barriers hindering their progress. It's also worth noting 
that more than half of all organizations lack an adequate strategic roadmap and 
investment plan for their personalization capabilities."

"There's nothing scarier for me as a marketer than the idea that 
personalization budgets are increasing, but marketers are overestimating their 
current capabilities and underestimating what it takes to truly master 
personalization," said Paige O'Neill, chief marketing officer at Sitecore. 
"Despite the fact that over a third of marketers see digital experience as a 
major competitive advantage, most are struggling to leverage crucial 
personalization techniques, from basic targeting to AI capabilities. Without 
building a solid internal architecture and tapping external resources like 
Sitecore's leading platform, opportunities, and, ultimately, return on the 
investments will be lost."

The findings of the research highlight this and other key issues that both 
agency leaders and brand marketers face, while delivering valuable insight into 
the current state, as well as future trends, of digital personalization. In 
addition to the in-depth research component and summation, the Report includes 
original articles providing crucial guidance on overcoming personalization 
barriers by industry leaders from Microsoft, Perficient Digital, Dept, Deepend, 
Sitecore, and more. Finally, the report also provides readers a deep-dive into 
investment priorities, content production, data practices, and budget 
allocation. 

Notably, the research also found that the focus on personalization is 
universal: the importance of digital experience personalization and plans for 
increased investments varied little across geographic regions, leadership 
roles, and size of digital budget, indicating that personalization is a 
consistent, global priority.

To learn more about global trends in personalization, download the full report 
on Sitecore.com ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2454084-1&h=2822617343&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sitecore.com%2Flanding%2Fcorp%2F2019-sitecore-soda-trends-in-personalization-research-report&a=Sitecore.com 
).

About SoDA
SoDA is an exclusive, member-based network for digital agency leaders, creative 
visionaries and technology innovators. Our programs provide agency executives 
with access to a powerful, global network for peer collaboration, thought 
leadership, knowledge capital, leadership cultivation and industry best 
practices. For more information, visit www.sodaspeaks.com. 

About Sitecore 
Sitecore is the global leader in digital experience management software that 
combines content management, commerce, and customer insights. The Sitecore 
Experience Cloud(TM) empowers marketers to deliver personalized content in real 
time and at scale across every channel--before, during, and after a sale. More 
than 5,200 brands--including American Express, Carnival Cruise Lines, 
Kimberly-Clark, and L'Oréal--have trusted Sitecore to deliver the personalized 
interactions that delight audiences, build loyalty, and drive revenue.

Contact
Shannon Lyman
Sr. Director, Communications at Sitecore
shannon.lyman@sitecore.com

Sitecore Media Relations
WE Communications
TeamSitecore@we-worldwide.com

(C) 2019 Sitecore Corporation Sitecore(R), Own the Experience(R), and Sitecore 
Experience Cloud(TM) are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sitecore.

SOURCE: Sitecore