(MediaBuyerPlanner) A new study by the CMO council found that marketers are out of touch with consumers because of a lack of formal contact with them. According to the study, Select & Connect: Strategies for Targeted Acquisition and Retention, nearly 75 percent of marketers did not have a customer advisory board or council and the same number do not have a formal online community of users or buyers, BtoB writes.

More than 66 percent said they did not have a formal word-of-mouth program in place. The problems keeping this type of customer insight and intimacy from happening are the complexity of data and system integration, competing department goals and personalities, and an under-appreciation of the benefits of such efforts, the survey found.