The Results Are In: Digital Marketing Standard 60% SAY THEIR COMPANIES ARE “BEHIND THE CURVE”
The Digital Marketing Standard, a survey conducted by Heidrick & Struggles and Digital Scientists, had some surprising and not-so-surprising results. Over 100 senior executives with decision-making or budgetary authority over their companies' marketing spending shared their perspectives on the state of things in the C-suite. BEHIND THE CURVE
What’s not a surprise? Chief marketing officers across nearly all
BEHIND THE CURVE
sectors believe their companies are under-delivering in the area of
WHERE WE SHOULD BE FRUSTRATED WITH PACE
digital marketing.
NOT A BELIEVER
Citing a disconnect between their own personal capabilities and how the companies they work for are performing in the digital
60%
marketing arena, nearly 75% of respondents describe themselves personally as "at the cutting edge" or "right where they should be," while 60% believe their companies are "behind the curve."
not about the inability to respond, it’s more about the organization not being “ It’s tightly coordinated and geared to respond. It’s not just marketing, it is the whole company.
”
TOP PRIORITIES
Acquiring new customers and increasing customer retention are their top priorities. What’s no longer on the radar? Expanding into new geographical locations and acquiring and retaining talent have fallen on the wayside. The top 4 marketing tactics for growth are ROMI analysis, website activity analysis, CRM tools and SEO. The C-suite is not buying the push for mobile ads and contests.
think that getting a return on the dollar is critically important, whether that is television, web, “ Ipromotions, or whatever. It is a higher level thing than just a “tactic.” The web activity is interesting, because it can feed the ROMI.
”
MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS
Overall, respondents are not very satisfied with their company's marketing effectiveness. Only 16% say they are “very satisfied” with responding rapidly to growth opportunities. Proficiency in digital marketing is highly valued but under-delivered. 49% agreed that it is important for the CMO to be proficient in digital marketing, but only 13% said that their companies
VERY SATISFIED
16%
had developed the internal talent required to develop and implement
SOMEWHAT SATISFIED NOT SATISFIED
growth-generating digital marketing programs. "CMOs confront intense pressure to deliver financial results," says Tom Klein, managing partner and chief scientist of Digital Scientists. "With digital marketing, they finally have the tools to answer the oldest question in marketing - what's working and what's not. However, they don't have the internal digital marketing skill sets they need to get the job done."
AD AGENCIES DON’T GET IT
Companies are relying on outside agencies to bridge the talent gap. Yet, 55% don’t trust their ad agency partners to provide them with digital marketing expertise they need.
though ad agencies say they have the expertise, they are still into big budget and big “ Even production branding. The culture is just not there, so they go outside and find people with a different mindset.
” 45
MARKETING VS. IT
Is there an arm wrestling match in the future? 44% of say they
MARKETING IT DEPARTMENT
30
OTHER
want the IT department to take responsibility for analytics. 60% reported the marketing department has primary
15
responsibility for the all-important analytics, but they want IT departments to share the load.
Marketing
IT
DEPARTMENT
For more information on the survey, please contact us for a personal webinar. TOM KLEIN | CHIEF SCIENTIST, DIGITAL SCIENTISTS TOM@DIGITALSCIENTISTS.COM 404.228.1551
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