Customer engagement is the No. 1 objective for digital marketing departments, according to a new study released by Mondo.
The study, “The Future of Digital Marketing,” was based on an online survey of 262 digital marketing executives at B2C and B2B companies.
It’s clear to see that digital marketing has picked up steam as a buzz phrase and discussion around it has turned white-hot.
Just consider some eye-opening takeaways from the study:
- 50%+ of digital marketing hires will have a technology background
- 80% of respondents will increase their digital marketing budgets in the next 12 -18months
- 98% see the role of traditional marketer changing due to:
- Increased number of channels and platforms to reach audiences
- new/innovative ways to think of customer engagement
- the challenge of breaking through the noise to reach target audiences
“The marketing industry has seen dramatic advancement over the past 15 years,” said Laura McGarrity, VP-digital marketing strategy at technology and digital-marketing resource provider Mondo, in the study. “Big data will continue to influence how marketers reach customers. The ability to analyze and interpret that data will be the core driver in optimizing customer engagement across all channels.”
In the study, respondents list the top hiring barriers:
- 65%--finding skilled talent
- 30%--the cost of quality staff
- 26%--culture fit
- 21% attracting top talent
- 16%--retaining top talent
The top skill sets companies are hiring for this year:
- 54%--digital/social
- 44%--content creation
- 33%--big data/analytics
- 30%--mobile strategy
More traditional marketing skills are lower on the list. Only 24% of companies plan to hire marketers for creative services, and 22% for product/brand expertise.
What’s more, the study asked marketers which digital platforms will drive customer engagement in the future. Mobile is seen as a key driver of customer engagement by only 24% of respondents, but in the next three to five years, that will 
increase to 70%.
Video will increase as a key driver of customer engagement from 13% today to 61% in the future; and social will increase from 38% today to 49% in the future.