This year, 80 percent of marketers are investing more in digital marketing technology according to a poll by Econsultancy and Oracle. This is up from 70 percent in 2014, and it reflects marketers’ increasing dependence on technology to execute and measure campaigns.
A laundry list of marketing technology investments to make
Technology opens new doors for marketing. It allows you to distribute messages to your target audiences in real time, across channels, and then get detailed feedback on efficacy. Most content marketing investments won’t deliver measurable ROI (or even make it to the web) without proper technology to support publication, distribution and result tracking.
This year, 80 percent of marketers are investing more in digital marketing technology
Content management systems, marketing automation platforms and analytics programs allow marketers to execute digital campaigns that look good and just simply, work.
Despite the benefits, most marketers are still somewhere in the process of acquiring the tech tools they need. According to the poll, this year:
- 50 percent are investing in A/B testing
- 42 percent are investing in marketing analytics
- 36 percent are investing in email platforms
- 35 percent are investing in a content management system
- 24 percent are investing in marketing automation
- 20 percent are investing in marketing attribution
Without these kinds of programs, marketing teams lose countless hours manually adding blog content, graphics, landing pages and videos to their websites. Email also requires more time, for less data, without technology to segment contact lists and drive campaigns with personalization and behavior-based automation or any way to measure the impact besides direct responses or opt-outs.
Given the current climate, tech will only become more important for marketing success, so it’s fitting that brands are upping the ante on their budgets. Consumers expect multimedia experiences that speak directly to where they are in the sales funnel – and brands need the tools to deliver visual and written content on the channels where they’re active.
The language barrier between marketing and tech
If you have advanced coding skills or a background in marketing analytics, the blending of old-school campaigns and digital data may not be reason to give pause. However, the majority of marketers are left with a gap to fill in order to keep up with industry standards and continue providing value to their businesses.
According to Experian, technology is the No. 1 barrier to effective cross-channel marketing. Silos in organizational structure prevent content marketing from meeting its full potential.
A lot of marketers don’t have the support of tech teams to tackle projects that require a lot of time and resource.
The first challenge is publishing content (which Brafton cites as the technical baseline to launching a content plan). Even with an all-star content strategy, backend SEO improvements, suggestions for a better user experience and lead nurturing campaigns might be shelved, leaving sales opportunities to slip between the cracks.
Technology makes marketing more efficient
With the right tools, campaigns can be executed faster and at a larger scale to generate better results. It’s vital that marketers continue to invest in technology to push strategies to the next level in 2015 – not just to keep up with competitors, but to meet customers’ expectations for interactions with your company.
