Almost every consumer is now connected to the digital sphere in some way. In fact, it often seems like many smartphone users rarely break their screen gaze long enough to offer the “real” world even a passing glance. Of course, some are more wired than others, but there is no denying that we are all firmly clasped in a digital grip. And with so many faces perpetually illuminated by the captivating glare of a digital screen, it is a wonder that so many brands still neglect to effectively devise digitally optimized customer engagement strategies.
This was the conclusion reached by a new independent study recently conducted by Forrester Consulting. Commissioned by Keynote, the study highlighted the “digital blind spot” most organizations appear to have while managing the various digital strategies that can drive the customer experience initiatives necessary for meaningful customer engagement.
To gather data for the study titled, “Mind the Gap: A Study of Digital Strategy and Alignment Between Business and IT,” Forrester surveyed over 200 line of business (LOB) and IT professionals and more than 1,000 various employees across North America and Europe.
Surprisingly, the study found that the vast majority (78%) do not feel confident in their organization’s ability to conduct the digital performance analytics needed to effectively design competent digital customer 
engagement strategies
And these opinions not only reflected the current attitudes towards strategic digital capabilities, but they also spoke to the organization’s inability to meet these requirements in the future as well.
“The digital channel is your ubiquitous, public face to the world, and each impression—whether it is the first or fifteenth—is a chance to make or break the customer relationship,” the study stated. “Forrester found that [the companies surveyed for this study] are uniting around customer experience by putting it at the center of their digital strategy, but many are still working to create a comprehensive monitoring and analytics regimen that validates app effectiveness by providing unified insight into business, technology, and customer engagement performance.”
What’s more, the study found that 54% of the respondents believed that enhancing customer experience was the most crucial aspect of developing effective digital strategies. Almost half (46%) felt that increasing the number of available digital options was also critical. Slightly less (41%) believed that bolstering an organization’s external digital presence would successfully enhance customer service. Finally, 37% stated that inconsistent or problematic website and mobile app functionality actually results in a decrease of customer loyalty.
“The digital transformation mandate is now well known,” said Aaron Rudger, Director of Product Marketing, Keynote. “However, as the study from Forrester reinforces, the success of digital initiatives is wholly dependent on the customer experience. Without equal visibility into digital performance, for both IT and line of business, organizations will struggle to meet customer expectations in the new digital norm, and risk losing business to competitors who can.”