Marketers have never had more data about their audiences, or more tools to wrangle that data and make it actionable. But the ideal of a data-driven brand experience, tailored for each customer, is still far from a reality for most marketers who struggle to make omnichannel, real-time connections and deliver meaningfully personalized offerings.

• Marketers are making some, but not much, progress on the customer experience. They’re focused on making it more data-driven and personalized, but few can deliver this type of experience across channels.
• Marketers are continuing to invest in technology, though most still lack a single view of the customer.
• Organizational challenges may be replacing technological challenges as the biggest barrier to holistic customer experiences, as teams struggle to work together with aligned incentives.
• Personalization may be considered a must-do, but most results fall far short of hyper-relevance. Marketers are only just beginning to focus on context and sentiment to deliver more meaningful personalization.