• by Tyler Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_tyler, October 8, 2013

A Forrester study commissioned by Qubit revealed that 56% of marketers aren't using all of the features of digital marketing technology, and 21% of marketers view their technology as nothing more than "shelfware."

Yet at the same time, 86% of respondents said their marketing budgets will increase by more than 5% in the next 12 months, with 73% of firms putting at least 10% of their marketing budgets toward technology.

Even a company like Qubit, which offers a platform for retailers to manage their Websites, pushes their offering as a "real-time" platform. Yes, they are likely doing this because "real-time" is a hot trend right now, but there truly are some real-time elements to it.

It's all part of Madison Avenue's "make it faster" trend. Graham Cooke, Qubit's CEO, believes that chief marketing officers are going to have to double as data scientists to keep up with technology and information. I don't doubt it.

A company like Qubit offers something completely different than, say, Turn, but both are pushing the real-time envelope because all marketing technology is picking up speed.

So while marketing technology and programmatic trading are different, the underlying themes are the same: Use technology to make advertising/marketing/branding/selling/buying/reaching consumers better and faster. And even when it's fast, it can be faster.

I'm inclined to think that the 21% of marketers not using marketing technology either A) will be soon or B) won't be marketers much longer.