There is a significant gap in knowledge of Marketing Automation or Marketing Cloud (MA/MC) among marketers, according to new research.
The study was conducted by Clevertouch Marketing for its Return on Marketing Investment Report 2021.
Out of 200 business and marketing leaders, just 17% (34) say that their marketers were well-equipped to understand MA/MC and its capabilities.
Key findings
- 58% of marketers rely on MA/MC specialists to support marketing campaigns
- As digital customer experiences match offline touchpoints in importance, the inability of marketers to deliver exceptional customer journeys hits revenue
- The serious shortfall of martech knowledge and training is revealed amidst this year’s Adobe Summit
When it comes to delivering campaigns, the survey showed that 58% of marketers rely on MA/MC specialists to support marketing campaigns, yet less than one in five (19%) say their MA/MC specialists are certified platform users. 46% described their specialists as self-taught using online resources. These findings suggest both a lack of investment and training in the use of marketing tools in businesses.
Lack of awareness and support clouding value
As we enter a hybrid, remote working world, less than half (48%) of those surveyed say their marketing leadership understands the capabilities of Marketing Automation or Marketing Cloud (MA/MC) technology and use them as a key part of their reporting strategies. And looking up top, only 1 in 5 say business executives understand how MA/MC can enhance customer experience and demonstrate the ROI of marketing activities. But these figures can also be explained by the findings, with just 36% of respondents saying they share marketing reports with executive leadership, and 56% of marketers stating that they don’t report on MROI or have the reporting processes in place to demonstrate it.
These results indicate why marketing is being undervalued in businesses. Nearly three quarters (73%) of marketers say that marketing is currently seen as a cost centre within their organisation. After a year of budget fluctuations and uncertainty, just 9% are seeing budget increases, with 1 in 5 declaring marketing is viewed as a profit centre, but with budgets staying the same.
Commenting on the results, Clevertouch CEO Adam Sharp said: These findings show the true state of martech today, there is still a bias and over-focus on the acquisition on technology and an underfocus in the investment on training, technical marketing skills development and organisational structure. Nowhere in an organisation is the technology to skills gap more apparent than in Martech where the emphasis and energy on building out complex tech stacks far exceeds most organisations ability to deploy them well. As businesses start to reset and move forward again, the majority of CMOs will need to prioritise technology adoption and skills development over new technology acquisition.”
