Dive Brief:
- Automation of CX and data analytics are the top priorities for CX leaders this year, a CX Network report released in May found. CX leaders are also prioritizing conversational AI and chatbots.
- The report, which pulled on insights from 282 CX leaders, found that just over 2 in 5 leaders plan to invest in automation, and roughly the same amount are investing in data analytics. Just over a quarter are investing in conversational AI and chatbots.
- While the report found budgets are staying relatively steady, the need to demonstrate return on investment is ever growing. Two-thirds of respondents said the pressure to prove ROI is increasing.
Dive Insight:
Under mounting pressure to demonstrate ROI, CX leaders are shifting investments toward automation and data analytics.
More than half of CX leaders expect spending on data analytics to increase this year, according to CX Network.
That finding is in line with other research. A 2023 Forrester report looking at the state of CX teams found that nearly 3 in 5 CX decision-makers said they would increase spending on data and research in the next year.
Companies that invested in data analytics are seeing those investments pay off. Over three-quarters said that it had a positive impact on loyalty, and 4 in 5 reported higher profits, according to the CX Network report.
CX leaders' also said that their top obstacle to bringing these investments to life is demonstrating ROI. Other commonly cited obstacles were finding a budget and getting buy-in from internal and external stakeholders.
Demonstrating ROI is one of the top challenges chief experience officers face, according to research from Deloitte Digital released earlier this year. Forrester, too, found that 3 in 5 CX leaders struggle to demonstrate ROI, which experts said, puts budgets at risk.
Correction: A previous version of this article included a statistic from the report that has since been amended. More than half of CX leaders (52%) expect spending on data analytics to increase this year.
