BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS) today announced the results of “Digital Marketing Maturity: The Results Are In,” a global study commissioned to determine the level of sophistication within digital marketing operations. Conducted by Dimensional Research in early 2016, the survey’s 700 respondents ranked as “Intermediate” on the digital marketing maturity scale. The digital marketing maturity scale is defined in the Digital Marketing Maturity Guide, which helps organizations determine the level of sophistication within their digital marketing operations.

Progressive marketing organizations that have integrated and aligned technology systems and processes, and can centrally analyze data from various customer interactions, have a higher level of digital marketing maturity, making it easier to digitally transform their business. With 80% of respondents reporting that manual processes are required for their systems to work properly, the survey shows there is much work to be done to increase digital marketing maturity levels. These findings support a recent Progress survey, in which 62% of respondents said they were in denial about the need to transform digitally.

“As technologies evolve and processes are digitized, the marketing and customer experience function is being transformed. Whether this transformation is effective depends a great deal on digital maturity,” said Svetozar Georgiev, Senior Vice President of Application Platforms, Progress. “Based on our findings, it’s clear that organizations need to optimize, integrate and automate systems, and they need a true analytics platform to take advantage of big data to drive conversions. Implementing these changes will also enable them to truly support digital business transformation initiatives.”

Key findings from the survey include:

• Deeper Integration of Systems is Needed: Organizations are investing in technology to drive business; but whether they leverage those systems to construct a holistic view of the business is of greater importance, and will ultimately determine success. Sixty-three percent (63%) of respondents reported they had two or three systems integrated in a batch process, while 60% stated the same range for real-time integration.
• Manual Processes are Still the Norm: A total of 56% of organizations responded “Some or None” of their marketing systems were integrated and share data, while 80% reported manual processes were needed for the systems to work properly. To achieve a higher level of digital marketing maturity, more processes must be automated and more systems integrated to share data for a 360-degree view of the customer.
• Analytics and Big Data Are Not Fully Leveraged: The use of big data and analytics to deliver personalized experiences and to impact the overall customer journey is an important part of digital marketing. Survey results indicate respondents understand the importance of analytics, with 69% reporting their analytics solution was fully integrated and they could see everything in one place. In addition, a majority reported using big data and analytics to impact conversions (87%) and to improve marketing program effectiveness (70%).

Survey respondents included more than 700 marketing professionals from a range of industries, including manufacturing (20%), financial services (13%), retail (13%), technology (11%), services (10%) and healthcare (7%), with the remaining respondents in telecom, hospitality, energy and utilities, non-profit and transportation. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of respondents were based in North America (US/Canada) with representation from EMEA (20%) and Asia Pacific (3%).

To access the full survey report, “Digital Marketing Maturity: The Results Are In,” click here.

Additional Resources

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About Progress

Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS) is a global leader in application development, empowering the digital transformation organizations need to create and sustain engaging user experiences in today’s evolving marketplace. With offerings spanning web, mobile and data for on-premise and cloud environments, Progress powers startups and industry titans worldwide, promoting success one customer at a time. Learn about Progress at www.progress.com or 1-781-280-4000.

Progress is a trademark or registered trademark of Progress Software Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates in the US and other countries. Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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