As a digital marketer, you’ve likely noticed that the industry has been on a roll, with internet advertising revenues reaching $11.7 billion in the second quarter of 2014 alone – a 14% YoY increase. But with this growth has also come concern. (If you’ve felt some of these effects, you’re not alone.)
To try and understand some of the growing pains, we conducted a survey of over 300 digital marketers to better understand their cross-channel practices and challenges. Respondents were located across the United States and United Kingdom, and represent a diverse array of verticals and marketing job focuses.
According to the survey, better understanding audiences, breaking down siloes, and integrating channels will be the main areas of focus for digital marketers over the next 12-months. The top five priorities ranked are:
1. Creating campaigns based on deeper understanding of audiences (51%)
2. Cross-channel digital marketing (50%)
3. Better integrating online and offline marketing efforts (46%)
4. Better integrating digital marketing disciplines (44%)
5. Investing in more sophisticated technology to gain and act on insights about customers (33%)
Additional priorities cited in our survey include: hiring more people with data analysis skills (33%), programmatic buying of advertising (23%), and gaining more transparency into where digital agencies invest their budget (22%). Marketers also want to develop a deeper understanding of how to digitally market to emerging markets such as Russia, Brazil, China, and other parts of Asia (17%).
Not surprisingly, we found that the problems marketers listed as their biggest challenges aligned closely with their priorities for 2015, suggesting a good handle on the situation and a path forward.
Do you agree with these priorities? Are there any you would add? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
To read more insights from our 2015 marketers census, download a copy here.