A new study from Forrester, (commissioned by Oracle) found that despite the clear business gains, most marketers were still not utilizing many modern tools and techniques.
Oracle Marketing Cloud VP of marketing Andrea Ward says the goal of the study was to determine how much of the marketing world was actually using modern marketing tactics such as cross channel customer engagement and content personalization based on big data. “We wanted to get a sense of where people are in the path towards becoming a ‘modern marketer,’” says Ward. “We also wanted to help people understand where they are on the scale, and what they need to do in order to get to the next level.”
The report conducted nearly 500 surveys with marketing decision makers across the US and Europe and found that only 11% could be classified as ‘modern marketers.’ On the other hand, 15% of the respondents were categorized as “novices” with the majority falling on a spectrum of varying experience in the middle.
Forrester’s report concluded that while most companies had adopted plenty of new marketing tools and techniques, they still had some way to go when it came to the more sophisticated practices:
While the majority of marketers indicated that heir practices around customer data analytics, data management, and segmentation and targeting are mature, most are less than halfway to the goal when it comes to marketing measurement and attribution, automation and technology adoption, communicating using dialogue with buyers, and converting prospects to longtime loyal customers.
The report also highlighted the positive business impact that the modern marketing techniques had in terms of revenue, market share and even workplace environment.
Of the respondents classified as “modern marketers,” 44% reported that their company’s revenues exceeded their plan by 10% or more over the past 12 months, compared to only 23% out of the rest of the respondents.
While the stat on revenue impact seemed plausible enough, Forrester’s takeaway on workplace improvement was on shakier ground. The survey reported that 71% of modern marketers claimed they had received national recognition as a “best place to work” at least once in the past three years. That may be the case, but it isn’t necessarily attributable to modern marketing techniques. It could well just be that companies that adopt modern marketing practices early usually have the budget and tech know-how to do it before other companies. It isn’t difficult to draw a link between big spending budgets and better job perks for employees.
Click here to download and view the report in its entirety.
