CMOs still struggling with digital delivery

According to the latest Adobe/CMO Council research, CMOs charged with managing the rollout and adoption of digital channels are struggling to build business cases for further investment in digital.

Marketers increasingly believe that that digital is enabling engagement through continuous touchpoints connecting brands directly with customers.

Surprisingly, only 21 percent believe digital can increase transactional volumes, revenue and margins.

The study has found that budgets in digital have remained tight and that digital capabilities – especially in agencies – are limited.

The report recommends three digital imperatives for APAC marketers to adopt to accelerate their digital journey.

• Optimise strategies for engagement and enablement by diving deeper into intelligence, insights and customer analytics. Best practice leaders in the region are demonstrating this by integrating tools that help streamline operations, and rolling out new strategies that leverage online and offline data to create smarter experiences.
• Boost team performance and skills. The talent gap consistently manifests as a major obstacle to digital advancement. In 2013, 37% of marketers across Asia Pacific said their agency’s capabilities and experience were holding them back. In this latest survey, that number has jumped to 47% of respondents, which is especially problematic when you consider that 74% of respondents said they were working with one or more digital agencies across the region.
• Allocate budgets based on customer-centric metrics in your business case. Digital budgets are slowly increasing in Asia Pacific, with 78% of respondents saying they have increased budgets over the last 12 months. Marketers who leverage metrics tied to the bottom line, profitability and growth, are having greater success persuading internal stakeholders to increase their investment in digital

Paul Robson, President, Adobe Asia Pacific said “Digital and business transformation is a complex and challenging task, but the rewards are great. Early adopters in Australia are leading the region in digital marketing proficiency and are able to prove value to their organisations and industries. These companies are using customer intelligence in an insightful way and are leading with data. They are raising the bar by measuring, predicting and using insights across multiple channels to create relevant and personalised experiences to satisfy customers.”

“While more marketers than ever before are allocating between 25 and 50 percent of overall marketing budgets to digital, what emerges from the data are ramifications of the skepticism over measurements and value—and the overarching question of whether the budgets being allocated to digital are actually moving the needle.”

The authors argue that marketers need to stop thinking of digital as the low cost solution and instead view it as a catalyst for transformation and customer engagement optimization.

Special thanks to Andrew Birmingham who recently published a thought provoking article that formed the basis for this post.