Navigating the Complexities of Digital Marketing: Research-Based Insights

Strategic Approach to Digital Marketing

• The study found that a majority of organizations use a strategic approach to digital marketing. However, surprisingly, almost half of respondents still do not have a structured digital marketing strategy in place. This lack of a strategic approach can hinder a business’s ability to achieve its digital marketing goals and maximize its ROI.

Capability Benchmark

• The study also evaluated the current and future business capabilities for the seven pillars of digital marketing success. The results revealed that more than half of businesses rated their digital maturity at lower levels of 1 to 2. This suggests that there is significant room for improvement in the way businesses are approaching digital marketing.

Current and Future Digital Maturity Assessment

• The study found that more than half of businesses aspire to achieve a digital maturity of 3 or higher by the end of 2024. This indicates a growing recognition of the importance of digital maturity and a willingness to invest in improving digital marketing capabilities.

Barriers to Increasing Digital Maturity

• The study identified insufficient people resources and a lack of investment into integrating platforms as the top two barriers to increasing digital maturity. These challenges highlight the need for businesses to prioritise human capital and invest in technology integration to enhance their digital marketing capabilities.

Evaluation and Always-on Optimisation

• The study found that only over half of businesses are using fundamental evaluation techniques, such as digital marketing dashboards, defined marketing source codes, and digital experience assessment. This suggests that around half of businesses are missing out on valuable insights that could help them improve their campaigns.
• A continuous, structured programme of testing is also relatively uncommon, with the majority of businesses not taking advantage of the opportunity to test, learn, and improve the effectiveness of their digital marketing initiatives.

Media Effectiveness

• The study found that organic search, Google Ads, and content marketing are the most effective media channels for businesses. This highlights the need for businesses to focus on these channels where there is a high search intent for their products and services.

Digital Experiences

• The study revealed that more than 50% of respondents rated the current maturity of managing websites and apps as Level 1 or 2. This suggests that many businesses can improve their digital experiences by investing in AI-based website personalisation and creating a content marketing strategy.

Generative AI

• Around one sixth of businesses have been using AI for content creation and optimisation for more than a year, with around one third recently starting to use AI for generating content for SEO, social media, and email marketing. This indicates a growing adoption of generative AI in the digital marketing landscape.

Digital Messaging

• Despite the growth of email marketing automation, the majority of businesses also rated their capabilities for this pillar at a low level. This suggests that businesses can further enhance their digital messaging strategies by investing in personalisation and integrating their email marketing with other channels.