European Marketers See Critical Future Role of Data and Technology

October 24, 2016

This article is included in these additional categories:

Analytics, Automated & MarTech | Customer-Centric | Data-driven | Digital | Europe & Middle East | Personalization | Staffing | Technology

adobe-critical-future-tactics-european-marketers-oct2016Almost 3 in 4 marketers in the UK, France and Germany agree that marketers need to be prepared to implement new technology in order to succeed, and an equal percentage (73%) agree that marketers are expected to adapt to tech advancements to keep pace with the industry. Trouble is, only about 1 in 4 consider themselves tech savvy, according to an Adobe report [pdf].

New technologies remain the leading force behind the industry’s change, per the survey’s 1,301 respondents. And while this puts pressure on marketers, they seem to remain confident in the face of massive changes:

  • Almost 2 in 3 feel that they have all the necessary skills to perform their job successfully;
  • More than 6 in 10 are happy in their career as a marketer;
  • Eight in 10 see marketing changes as an opportunity rather than a threat; and
  • Almost 6 in 10 feel well prepared as opposed to underprepared for the changes in marketing.

That’s encouraging in light of the shifts taking place in marketing, as 81% believe the pace of change is accelerating, and 56% feel that the change is happening dramatically rather than gradually.

One of the changes is the new focus on data, which remains both a challenge and an opportunity. Asked to select their top-3 trends and technologies that are most challenging, a leading 25% of respondents pointed to big data and marketing measurement. At the same time, fast forward three years and respondents believe that big data and marketing measurement will be the most critical tactics for marketers to be focusing on.

Moreover, when asked which specific behavior will have the biggest impact on marketing effectiveness in the next 12 months, the leading response was more effective utilization of data. As such, data analysts are a key hiring focus, with 30% of respondents saying that data analysts are underrepresented within their company and 27% planning to hire more data analyst talent in the year to come.

The full report can be viewed here [pdf].

About the Data: Adobe’s “Digital Roadblock Report 2016” is based on a survey of 1,301 European marketers in the UK (450), Germany (451) and France (400). The research was managed by Edeleman Intelligence and fieldwork was conducted from July 20 to August 2, 2016.

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