More than ever, it seems, marketing is undergoing major changes. In a new survey of over 1,000 U.S. marketers by Adobe Systems, 81 percent of those surveyed said they expect significant change in the next three years. The top three driving forces behind change are:
- Expanded number of channels and platforms to reach audiences
- New ways of thinking about audience engagement
- New technologies for analyzing marketing effectiveness.
Over half of the marketers surveyed (65 percent) think “the line between digital and traditional marketing is not as clear-cut anymore.” As you might expect, marketers reported a dramatic increase in their use of digital marketing last year. In fact, 65 percent of marketers said they are doing “somewhat or much more” direct customer engagement through email and 83 percent said they are doing “somewhat or much more” with social communities. Over half (61 percent) think social media is “the most critical marketing vehicle to focus on a year from now,” followed by mobile marketing at 51 percent. Three quarters of marketers (76 percent) say they need to be more data-focused to succeed.
These are a few of the challenges marketers face as they move into a more digital, data-driven, customer-focused future.