According to a recent study by Adobe Systems, marketers know they must reinvent themselves, but don’t know how. 64% of marketers expect their role to change in the next year and 81% in the
next 3 years. While 40% of marketers surveyed stated that they wanted to reinvent themselves, only 14% of those marketers actually know how to go about it, concludes the report. Lack of training in
new marketing skills and organizational inability to adapt are cited as key obstacles to becoming the marketers they aspire to be.
Information in the study is broken out by companies with
below average or average business performance… had performed similarly to key competitors or had recorded lower sales or revenue than key competitors vs. companies with superior business
performance… had out-performed key competitors in terms of sales or revenue. And, companies where digital spend was more than 25% of total marketing budget, vs. companies where digital spend
was less than 10% of their total marketing budget.
40% of marketers say “I want to reinvent or redefine my role as a marketer,” though only 14% say “I know exactly how to do
it.” Of those who want to change, 44% are from a high digital spending company, and 33% from low. Companies with high digital spend are more likely to believe that marketers need to reinvent
themselves:
Marketers Perceptions |
| High digital spend | Low digital spend |
Marketing
is undergoing a revolution | 84% | 71% |
Marketers need to
reinvent themselves to succeed | 82% | 67% |
Succeeding today
involves a fundamental change in the approach to marketing | 85% | 77% |
Source: Adobe, March 2014 |
The changing role of marketers is driven by increased channels and platforms and new
technologies, says the report. Respondents report some of the driving forces behind the change in the role of marketers.
Driving Forces For Change In Next 12 Months (% of
Respondents)
- Expanded number of channels and platforms to reach audiences 73%
- New ways of thinking about audience engagement 71%
- New
technologies for analyzing marketing effectiveness 71%
- Challenge of 'breaking through the noise' to reach target audiences 61%
- The pace of
change 50%
- New responsibilities for the marketing function 44%
- Increased recognition of marketing's contribution to business success 40%
Beyond the issues of budget and resource constraints, marketers cite lack of training in new skills and organizations’ inability to adapt as key obstacles to becoming the aspired
marketer.
Barriers To Personal Marketing Growth (% of Respondents) |
Obstacle | % of Respondents |
Lack of resources/budget | 53% |
Confusion over roles and responsibilities | 33% |
Dysfunction and friction over priorities across the company | 32% |
Lack
of training in new marketing skills | 30% |
Organizational inability to adapt | 30% |
Not having a seat at the table when decisions are made | 28% |
Company resistance to trying new programs that may fail | 26% |
Misalignment between
company priorities and my professional goals | 20% |
Demands outside of work | 16% |
Manager expectations | 14% |
My
marketing skills falling behind | 14% |
Risk of failing/losing my job | 12% |
My company not experiencing market success | 12% |
My marketing specialty becoming less valuable/sought-after | 7% |
Source:
Adobe, March 2014 |
Marketers, recognizing that their personal approach to marketing may have changed over the last 12 months, express their agreement to
the understanding of the importance of using Big Data (Multiple Choice OK)
Importance of
Big Data |
Consideration | % of Respondents Strongly Agreeing |
Capturing and applying data to inform and drive marketing activities is the new reality | 74% |
Marketers need to embrace 'hyper-personalization' (i.e. using data to provide the right products, services and content at the right time) | 69% |
Mobile is a critical element for marketers to get right | 69% |
Digital marketing is more about driving and rewarding engagement | 67% |
Data (metrics
from digital ads, campaigns, website, etc.) is informative in evolving my company's marketing creative | 67% |
Traditional marketing is more about driving brand awareness, brand differentiation & creating demand | 66% |
I am more open to experimenting and taking risks | 66% |
Source: Adobe,
March 2014 |
Marketers, from both high and low digital spending companies, record their perceived marketing tactics as most critical areas a year from
now.
Marketing Tactics Most Critical In One Year (Choose Up To Three) |
Tactic | Total | High Digital Spend | Low Digital Spend |
Social | 61% | 61% | 64% |
Mobile | 51 | 57 | 39 |
Online Ads | 37 | 43 | 28 |
Direct (including e-mail) | 31 | 33 | 36 |
Search | 27 | 33 | 17 |
Events | 23 | 18 | 31 |
PR | 9 | 12 | 22 |
Print | 15 | 6 | 12 |
TV | 7 | 6 | 5 |
Source: Adobe, March 2014 |
Finally, marketers express their opinions on what
will be most important to their company’s marketing moving forward.(% of Respondents)
Personalization 33% |
31% High digital spend |
36% Low
digital spend |
Big Data 22% |
22% High digital spend |
17% Low digital spend |
Social 21% |
21%
High digital spend |
22% Low digital spend |
Real Time 14% |
12% High digital spend |
18% Low digital spend |
Mobile 11% |
14% High digital spend |
7% Low digital
spend |
Source: Adobe, March 2014 |
Summary of Top Findings:
- Sixty-four percent of marketers
expect their role to change in the next year; 81% in the next 3 years.
- While 40% marketers surveyed stated that they wanted to reinvent themselves, only 14% of those marketers actually know
how to go about it.
- Lack of training in new marketing skills (30%) and organizational inability to adapt (30%) are cited as key obstacles to becoming the marketers they aspire to be.
- 54% of marketers believe the ideal marketer should take more risks and 45% hope to take more risks themselves.
- 65% of marketers say they are more comfortable adopting new technologies
once they become mainstream.
- Marketers cite digital/social marketers (47%), data analysts (38%), creatives (38%) and mobile marketers (36%) as the key roles companies need to invest in over
the next 12 months.
- Marketers recognize the importance of data, but aren’t widely using it to make informed decisions.
- 76% of marketers (76%) agree they need to be more
data-focused to succeed.
- Forty-nine percent of marketers report “trusting my gut” to guide decisions on where to invest their marketing budgets.
- 72% of marketers agree
that long-term success at their company is tied to proving marketing return on investment.
- 161% of marketers see social media as the most critical marketing vehicle to focus on a year from
now, followed closely by mobile at 51%.
According to the report, the online survey was among a total of 1,004 U.S. marketers with data collected February 19-27, 2014 by ResearchNow.
The margin of error at the 95% confidence level for the total sample is +/- 3.1%
For additional information from Adobe, and the PDF survey file, please visit
here.