Marketers continue to shift their budgets from traditional to digital media, but simply including online ad campaigns and social media efforts is not enough for an effective marketing mix, reports eMarketer.
According to Alterian's assessment, the maturity of digital and social media requires integration of marketing strategies. Marketers must move from a focus on isolated campaigns to an emphasis on listening to and communicating across channels.
In this study, more than one-half of marketers worldwide reported directing their efforts toward integrating their communication strategies to emphasize multichannel engagement.
The majority of marketers surveyed recognized social media as increasingly important to the marketing mix, while only 14 percent said it's "critical" for their success.
Most marketers say they're "prepared enough" to take advantage of new techniques in digital and social media, but more than one-third felt "minimally prepared" at best.
The largest group of respondents said some of their marketing staff "had the skills" to implement new customer engagement strategies, but that knowledge was generally restricted to personnel in digital roles.
Only 17 percent said most, or all, of their staff was adequately prepared.
"Engaging with customers is becoming paramount and the yardstick by which we measure those brands that survive and those that don't," said David Eldridge, CEO of Alterian. "Marketers now need to appeal to the individual and engage with customers on a one-to-one basis."
So, who is qualified to lead digital marketing strategy? Those who have proven they participate in engagement will leave a substantive impression of their online activities. In contrast, those who are appointed as managers by their company, but have minimal experience, can do little more than merely talk the talk.