Why 25 percent of marketers are still ignoring digital

The past 18 months have brought many disruptive challenges for businesses as they grappled with an increasingly complex environment. 

Now, managing uncertainty has become a key focus for marketers in 2022 with over a third of those surveyed (36 percent) saying it’s a priority within their business for next year, according to a report by digital agency iCrossing UK in conjunction with YouGov. 

A quarter of marketing decision makers say they will place a greater focus on digital next year, yet 25 percent believe their business doesn’t have enough time to focus on digital marketing.

From the survey, marketers identified these key areas they were missing knowledge: 

• SEO (25 percent)

• Data and analytics (23 percent)

• Digital strategy (22 percent)

• PPC (21 percent)

“Not enough time’

The need to address digital disruption is apparent with a quarter of respondents saying they will have a greater focus on digital next year, while 20 percent have had challenges navigating the many communication channels available today, and a further 20 percent feel they lack a clear digital strategy and practical plan of how to implement it.

Surprisingly, a quarter (25 percent) of marketing decision makers believe their business doesn’t have enough time to focus on digital marketing.

The report also reveals that to cope with a changing landscape, marketers are committed to being more customer-centric, understanding consumers and their path to purchase through data with nearly two-thirds (60 percent) looking to deliver high quality customer service in 2022.

Jamie Clifford, managing director, iCrossing says: “We’ve all known about the potential in digital marketing for a while but making it happen can be hard. 

“The past 18 months has further shown the profound effect digital and data has had on marketing but due to the complexity that this brings, there are clearly still many organisations and marketers struggling to find the time, skills and knowledge to adapt and deliver an effective digital marketing strategy. With the end of the cookie in sight, managing data, and measuring and monitoring performance is only set to become more complex. At iCrossing we recognise the opportunities that marketers have in the new digital ecosystem, and we have the talent and capabilities to help them overcome the challenges that they are clearly still facing.”