The biggest challenge for marketers in digital marketing

The results of the study in the field of digital marketing are based on a survey of more than 300 marketing decision-makers from companies, media and agencies in the USA. Four key findings of the current study are as follows:1. fragmented consumer behavior poses problems for marketing decision-makersConsumer behavior is changing rapidly. The consumer decision journey shows a clear development away from a straightforward purchase decision towards a complex decision-making process that is characterized by both well-informed consumers and an oversupply of information. The results of the study suggest that the majority of companies have not yet found a solution to this challenge: This is because 55% of the marketing decision-makers surveyed deny their organization the ability to understand the consumer journey of their own target groups in detail - creating uncertainty when it comes to selecting the right marketing mix. Only just under a third (32%) of respondents said that their organization had found a good balance between traditional and digital activities. On the other hand, half (50%) express doubts about the effective composition of current marketing measures.2. lack of a solution for the integrated measurement of marketing ROIRespondents from companies, media and agencies agree that measuring return on investment (ROI) is currently the biggest challenge for marketing. They are particularly concerned about the measurability of the effects of measures in the areas of content marketing, events and conferences. In the coming years, increasing expenditure on market research tools is therefore expected, which will help to quantify the ROI of marketing activities more precisely. Solutions in this area would help the industry to achieve significant growth: This is because almost three quarters (74%) of marketing decision-makers would increase their investments in digital channels if the ROI could be proven better than it is today. In terms of cross-channel activities, 71% would then increase their spending and 43% in traditional channels.3. data-based marketing approaches continue to gain groundThe buzzword "big data" is becoming increasingly important in marketing: the marketers surveyed rate their own organization positively overall with regard to the collection and use of data for marketing activities. At 41%, companies' confidence in the evaluation of big data has increased significantly compared to the previous year (14%). However, data affinity is even more pronounced among marketing decision-makers in media companies (59%) and agencies (60%). The growing trust in data-based marketing is also reflected in the fact that respondents forecast increasing research budgets for the coming years - particularly in the measurement of ROI, consumer behavior along the consumer journey and in the area of advertising effectiveness research.4. the strategic gap between traditional and digital activities is narrowingConsumers today expect a consistent brand experience across all channels. However, the reality shows that a good quarter (26%) of the organizations surveyed still have difficulties implementing integrated activities with coordinated messages. The positive news is that there is a growing understanding of overarching strategies that effectively combine traditional and digital measures. While 74% of respondents say they are developing integrated marketing strategies today, this figure was only 67% (2015) and 59% (2014) in previous years. If the focus is exclusively on digital marketing, it becomes clear that there is still plenty of room for improvement in the coordination of activities here too: Around a third (33%) state that the marketing measures in the individual online channels do not pursue an overarching goal.