With eMarketer reports indicating U.S. online ad spend will exceed $27 billion next year, it's easy to assume that marketers are up to speed on the latest digital channels. But a new report from the Chief Marketing Officer Council and marketing firm Accenture indicates that some executives have a lot to learn about internet marketing.
A large majority of marketers (78 percent) said that digital marketing is important to their organizations. Yet, just 4 percent of CMOs said their companies are very prepared to get the most out of online marketing channels.
Nearly one-third (29 percent) said they have difficulties integrating critical analytics, and a whopping 64 percent indicated they find they have problems implementing marketing solutions to bring about positive results.
Tim Breene, senior managing director of strategic initiatives at Accenture, believes these findings indicate that marketers must take their internet marketing campaigns more seriously. "This research can serve as a wake-up call to savvy CMOs and CIOs who are looking for the next frontier of success: A fully empowered digital enterprise, capable of forging and maintaining continuous relevant relationships with its customers."
Marketers should develop internet marketing strategies for the coming year as it is becoming increasingly clear that consumers turn to the web to learn about products and services. As Brafton reported earlier this week, the 2010 Search Engine Results Page Survey found that more than three-quarters of Americans turn to search engines to learn about merchandise – even if they originally saw it advertised somewhere off the web.
