87% of Singapore marketers admit to running generic campaigns as data woes stall personalisation: report

Singapore – Despite rising customer expectations for personalised and conversational experiences, the vast majority of Singapore marketers admit they are still relying on generic campaigns, with fragmented data emerging as the biggest roadblock to meaningful engagement.

According to Salesforce’s latest State of Marketing report, 87% of marketers in Singapore confessed to running generic campaigns, while 86% said they struggle to respond promptly to customers—well above the Asia-Pacific average of 71%.

The findings, based on a survey of 4,450 marketing professionals globally including 100 respondents in Singapore, suggest that the issue is less about ambition and more about the quality and accessibility of customer data.

In fact, 100% of Singapore marketers surveyed reported facing barriers to personalisation, citing siloed systems, poor data quality, and overwhelming volumes of information as their biggest challenges.

“Singapore marketers are under immense pressure to deliver personalised, real-time experiences, but they’re being held back by the very foundation they’re building on,” said Nipun Sharma, Vice President of Marketing for India and ASEAN at Salesforce.

“When data is siloed and fragmented, AI tools can’t deliver on their promise. As customer journeys become more conversational, brands that unify their data across the customer journey will be better placed to deliver personalisation at scale, and build stronger customer relationships.”

The report found that 80% of Singapore marketers believe customers now expect two-way conversations with brands, where consumers can respond to marketing messages and receive meaningful replies. Yet many teams lack access to the data needed to support those interactions.

Only 61% have complete access to service data, while access drops to 58% for sales data and 57% for commerce data. Artificial intelligence is increasingly viewed as a way to bridge this gap.

Three in four Singapore marketers said they require more personalised content than they are currently able to produce, while 81% are already turning to AI to help scale their efforts, with content personalisation emerging as the leading use case.

However, the effectiveness of AI remains closely tied to the quality of underlying data.

Globally, Salesforce found that marketing teams satisfied with their data infrastructure are 42% more likely to regularly respond to customers and 60% more likely to use AI agents to scale campaigns compared to those dissatisfied with their data foundations.

The study also highlighted how AI is reshaping discovery and customer engagement.

While 77% of Singapore marketers said they struggle to keep pace with shifting consumer behaviour, 53% admitted they have yet to adapt their strategies to the widespread adoption of AI.

At the same time, 84% said AI is changing their approach to search engine optimisation, while 86% have already begun optimising for AI-generated responses on platforms such as ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews.

Salesforce noted that high-performing marketers globally are 2.2 times more likely than underperformers to optimise for AI search, underscoring the growing importance of answer engine optimisation as consumer discovery habits evolve.

The findings suggest that while enthusiasm around AI continues to grow, marketers may first need to solve a more fundamental challenge: ensuring the data powering those tools is connected, accessible, and fit for purpose.