Data snack: FIs are adopting martech – but are they making the most of it?
- Financial institutions are paying attention to the benefits of marketing technology.
- But using martech to better boost strategy and data analysis remains tricky.
In a recent report diving into financial institutions’ use of marketing technology, Forrester Consulting, commissioned by Capgemini, created a model to compare marketing technology investments in big and small financial institutions as well as in high-tech companies.
The consulting firms took into account 24 dimensions across five categories, including strategy, process, technology, data, and organization (see figure three of the report for more details) and measured companies’ levels of capabilities on a five-point scale.
They divided the firms into three different levels of marketing technology maturity, with the top level of maturity being the top 25%, the lowest level of maturity being the bottom 25%, and the medium level of maturity being the other 50%.
Maybe unsurprisingly, high-tech companies ranked highest in marketing technology maturity, with 30% of these companies falling into the top maturity level, compared to only 15% of big financial institutions (i.e. FIs with over 5,000 employees).
Some food for thought: Small FIs (i.e. those with fewer than 5,000 employees) ranked much higher than their larger FI peers. 28% of small FIs were in the top maturity category – only 2% less than high-tech companies in the same level of maturity.
Financial firms are struggling in making the most of their marketing technology in specific areas, according to the report. That includes strategy, technology, and data.
For example, in terms of strategy, financial firms aren’t keeping a consumer centric approach compared to high-tech companies. Martech could be used as a way to activate the customer journey through AI and automation – but in a lot of FIs’ cases, this isn’t happening. 59% of FIs say their martech roadmap aligns with their strategy only somewhat or less.
And when it comes to data, FIs are still struggling to use martech to better understand who their customers are. Another data-specific issue includes being able to track customer engagement. While this sort of tracking is a challenge for all industries, FIs especially struggle in terms of cross-channel customer engagement. Half the respondents said they can only measure customer engagement in siloed channels.
All this to say, FIs don’t seem opposed to adopting martech into their toolboxes. But they still seem to be struggling in incorporating this technology into their digital transformation plans.