• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, July 30, 2015

According to a new Millward Brown Digital study, “Getting Digital Right 2015,” digital has become a part of everyday life for most Americans. Smartphones, Tablets, Smart TVs, and Wearables are everywhere and new technology is perpetually on the horizon. Words like “multiscreen” and “programmatic” have taken over the conversation. Now marketers face the challenge of keeping abreast of all this while coming up with innovative and efficient ways to execute winning marketing strategies

Only 14% of marketers feel their team effectively uses the consumer, media, and transaction data available to them. Even more surprising, says the report, this represents a decrease in confidence from the 2014 report.

Knowing consumers and where to reach them is essential to effective marketing. Nearly 50% of brand marketers, and over 65% of media and agency marketers ranked the ability to reach target audiences as a key factor in media budget allocation. However, only about half of media and agency marketers are confident they have an optimized media mix, while even fewer brand marketers do, only about 25%.

Prioritizing Digital Best Practices is the hallmark of a strong Marketing research program. Brands are particularly unsure about their understanding of digital best practices; only 38% said they felt confident that they were up-to-date. Media companies and agencies felt they had a better grasp, with over 60% of respondents confident in their knowledge. This indicates that brand marketers have the opportunity to lean on their partners and insights experts to help bolster gaps in digital expertise.

Consumers are embracing digital to power their personal brands, altering the nature of the relationships they build with external brands. The advent of connected devices has increased the complexity of marketing to the right consumer, with the right message, at the right touchpoint, on the right screen, at the right time. Understanding the connected consumer journey is essential to optimizing marketing.

In 2014, marketers reported the need for advancements in behavioral research tools as mainstays in their insights toolkit. For 2015, the trend shows no sign of slowing. 67% of marketers use behavioral data as an influential component of their research program, and 69% expect it to grow over the next three years.

Nearly 50% of brand marketers, and over 65% of media and agency marketers ranked the ability to reach target audiences as a key factor in media budget allocation. However, only about half of media and agency marketers are confident they have an optimized media mix, while even fewer brand marketers do, only about 25%. According to brand marketers, a best-in-class media allocation looks like: 

For most channels, this represents a change from 2014, with Mobile seeing the largest increase and Email Marketing seeing the greatest decrease. 

In 2015, only 43% of brand marketers were confident in their organization’s integration of digital into their marketing strategy. However, since 2014, there has been a 10% increase in the volume of organizations integrating digital into their centralized marketing strategies. It’s no longer a question of whether to include digital in the marketing strategy, but rather when, where, and how much. 

Demonstrating ROI is the lone universal truth in marketing, says the report, making the ability to prove ROI against marketing efforts a top priority, says the report. The ability to track ROI through various channels continues to grow in importance, though expectations are higher for digital. A majority of marketers would increase investment in digital channels, like Social, if ROI measurement for those channels improves.

Over 70% of marketers would increase their budget in Digital, Mobile, and Social channels if ROI measurement was improved.

The report concludes with four silver bullets for best-in-class:

• Create a best-in-class marketing research program by equipping your team with the know-how and fundamentals to plan, measure, track, and optimize marketing
• A deep understanding of the dynamic consumer is essential to unlocking the potential of marketing in an increasingly connected world. Marketers need to ensure they are adopting behavioral research advancements as pillars of their insights toolkit
• Digital channels have and will continue to increase their presence in marketers’ media allocations.  Begin by understanding your audience and their relationship with brand
• Marketers need to plan, measure, track, and optimize to ensure they are constantly maximizing ROI. Achieve the right balance between a relentless pursuit of ROI and creative marketing experimentation

To access the complete report as a PDF file, please visit here.