How Execs Rank Digital Marketing Solution Capabilities

More marketers are focusing on analytics

May 4, 2016 | Marketing

Roughly half of executives worldwide say analytics and social marketing competences are critically important digital marketing capabilities. Other capabilities like multiple delivery models are also significant, but less critical.

Forbes Insights and Oracle Marketing Cloud surveyed 255 executives worldwide across a range of industries and functions and asked them to indicate on a scale of one (not at all important) to five (critical) the importance of select digital marketing technology solution capabilities.

Some 43% of respondents said that social marketing capabilities, as well as analytics were critical digital marketing technology solution capabilities. In fact, only 3% of executives said that social marketing capabilities were not at all important, and 2% of respondents said that analytics weren't.

Other digital marketing solution capabilities like the ability to create and publish content tailored for specific customer needs and integration with existing resources or platforms were also ranked as important, but slightly less than critical. For example, 26% of executives said that journey mapping tools were critically important digital marketing solution capabilities—respondents indicated this by giving it a five on a scale of one to five. However, more executives—44%—gave that same digital marketing solution capability a four.

In general, more marketers are focusing on analytics and big data. Indeed, a survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) found that skills in these areas will be most in demand within a few years.