San Francisco, February 7, 2024--Almost half (45%) of North American business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers said they struggle to move quickly enough to deliver timely, personalized customer experiences. Given this, it’s no surprise that 65% of marketers plan to increase their technology spending in 2024. These marketers use at least five engagement channels to reach customers but still have outdated technology tools and even spreadsheets to manage and optimize them. These are just some key findings in MoEngage’s new report, The State of Cross-Channel Marketing 2024.

To create this report, MoEngage surveyed more than 700+ B2C marketers from companies of various sizes across eight key industry sectors, including e-commerce & retail, financial services, and media and entertainment. The key objectives of the report are to gain insights around cross-channel marketing for:

• Top priorities in 2024 for B2C marketing professionals
• Biggest challenges and opportunities for brand marketing teams executing customer engagement campaigns
• Measuring and optimizing customer engagement efforts
• Building a successful cross-channel marketing program 

In addition to these answers, the free report from MoEngage includes exclusive new illustrations by Marketoonist Creator Tom Fishburne that are as entertaining as they are insightful. Marketoonist is a cartoon studio focused on content marketing, thought leadership, and culture change.

“I really enjoyed collaborating with MoEngage to mine the experiences of so many brand marketers in this report for humor. I hope the cartoons help spark conversations on how we can get better at customer experience,” said Fishburne. “Laughing together at some of what we all grapple with — from data to AI to limited budgets to juggling so many channels — makes it easier to openly talk about where we need to improve.”

Acquisition Matters More Than Retention—But Should It?

In 2024, marketers indicate that they will measure success primarily through the lens of customer acquisition. Getting new customers is the top priority by a significant margin. Data from the MoEngage survey shows that the top three objectives for brands in the new year are: 

1. Finding new customers (57%)
2. Increasing customer engagement/loyalty (44.9%) 
3. Retaining current customers (40.8%)

Marketers should take caution and keep sight of prioritizing customer retention this year. Retaining existing customers through personalized engagement can provide better ROI than focusing too much on acquisition. This is where having a well-integrated, personalized cross-channel marketing approach will yield rewards! 

Email Still Takes the Crown as Top Customer Engagement Channel

MoEngage’s new research shows that email marketing is alive and well in North America. The four most popular engagement channels that B2C marketers use are:

• Email (89.6%)
• Social Media (80.3%)
• Desktop Website (67.1%)
• Mobile Website (65%)
• Mobile App (49%)

The data points out a growing trend in digital spaces: Mobile Apps, SMS, and Push Notifications are on the rise. While they’re already showing a promising return on investment, marketers have barely scratched the surface of what these channels can do for customer engagement.

“The survey data shows marketers are spreading their wings across more channels, leading to an increase in active users," explained Aditya Vempaty, VP of Marketing for MoEngage. "But they're hitting a wall with tight budgets, data silos, and outdated tools. These barriers complicate their ability to do deeper data analysis. For a win in 2024, they'll need to sharpen their strategies with personalized marketing, powered by fresh tech for deeper customer insights—avoiding the pitfalls of flying blind with old systems."

Download your free copy of the report here.