Data emerges as the foremost opportunity for telecom companies

With customer experience (15%) and mobile (14%) a close second and third.

As you can see, companies in the telecom sector are far more excited about big data than companies in any other sector. In fact telecom marketers are twice as likely as others to view big data as an exciting opportunity for the next 12 months.

According to the 2014 Telecoms.com Industry Survey, around half (46%) of organisations already have a big data initiative in place helping to drive internal improvements and new external revenue streams. 

Data enables better, more personalised experiences for customers and accurate forecasting, which can obviously have a beneficial affect on future customer service strategy.

Investment in mobile is high, but integration with other marketing activities is not prioritised

Spend on mobile marketing and technology is high across the board, as you would expect from consumers increasingly mobile-first lifestyle, but these investments are not supported internally by company structure.  We asked our respondents: what is your company’s level of investment in mobile (mobile web, mobile apps and mobile tactics)?

Although you might expect the telecom sector to be ahead of the curve, unfortunately almost a third (30%) of companies operate with mobile marketing as a separate team. 

Many companies have far too many siloes in place, which doesn’t help the integration of mobile with other marketing activities.

In the US, the investment is much larger as generally US companies achieve on average 10% more traffic from mobile than their EMEA counterparts.

Technology is a major stumbling block

Technology plays an essential role for companies aiming to improve customer experience, but only half of organisations believe they ‘have the technology they need to succeed’.

Thankfully telecom companies are aiming to tackle these technology challenges by increasing investment. 84% of respondents said they are planning to increase their budgets specifically for digital marketing technology over the next 12 months, compared to only 2% who are planning a decrease.

Whilst investing more is often the most straightforward solution, occasionally it doesn’t always provide the best results. Organisations without a decent strategy may end up with a comprehensive suite of tools that aren’t integrated and therefore won’t help them achieve the best results.

For much more insight, download the full 52 page report: Digital Marketing in the Telecom Sector