skills of the modern marketer (by econsultancy)

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Skills of the Modern Marketer

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Skills of the Modern Marketer

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Contents

1. Executive Summary ......................................................... 5

1.1. Methodology ................................................................................ 6

1.2. About Econsultancy .................................................................... 7

1.3. About the author ......................................................................... 8

2. Soft Skills ......................................................................... 9

2.1. The importance of soft skills in modern marketing ................... 9

2.2. Key soft skills ............................................................................. 10

2.3. Softer skills and recruitment – how Google hires ..................... 11

2.4. Fixed vs growth mindsets .......................................................... 12

2.5. Is growth hacking a thing? ......................................................... 14

2.6. T-shaped and pi-shaped ............................................................. 14

2.7. A checklist of softer skills to consider ........................................ 15

3. Vertical Skills ................................................................. 16

3.1. The development of broader skills areas ................................... 16

3.2. Vertical skills development ........................................................ 17

3.3. Broader skills in the future ........................................................18

3.4. Vertical skills in the future ......................................................... 19

3.5. Adapting to the modern marketing world ................................ 20

3.6. Greater degree of insourcing, greater need for skills ................ 21

3.7. Specialism and generalism ....................................................... 22

3.8. Skills gaps – the ticking talent time bomb ............................... 23

3.9. The rise of the technically adept marketer ............................... 24

4. Challenges and Opportunities ....................................... 29

4.1. The reinvention challenge ......................................................... 29

4.2. Skills as a barrier to progress .................................................... 30

4.3. Closing the skills gaps ............................................................... 30

4.4. Geographical challenges in recruitment .................................... 31

4.5. The growing role of freelancers ................................................ 32

4.6. Learning cultures ...................................................................... 32

4.7. Marketers as journeymen ......................................................... 33

4.8. The growing role of automation ............................................... 34

4.9. Marketers as change agents ...................................................... 34

4.10. The five skills of disruptive innovators ..................................... 35




4.11. Maturity in skills ....................................................................... 36

5. Appendix ........................................................................ 38

5.1. Modern Marketing Manifesto ................................................... 38

5.2. Respondent profiles ................................................................... 41

5.3. References and further reading ................................................ 47




1. Executive Summary With the Modern Marketing Manifesto (included in the Appendix), Econsultancy CEO Ashley

Friedlein set out the reasons why the value of marketing within organisations is in the

ascendancy, aiming to define what it is to be a modern marketer in an increasingly digital world.

This research set out to answer one question: how true is it that the skills and the types of people

that are most in demand are those which underpin the kind of marketing that is outlined in the

manifesto?

There’s been a lot of hand wringing over the past few years about the skills gap in marketing as the pace of technological change shifts the way we interact with customers. Certainly, marketers need to be more technically adept and more data focused, however the research for this report reveals that the traditional skills of marketing are as important as ever – if not more so. The ability to embrace change, spot opportunities and adapt quickly, to be hungry to learn and to be open and collaborative were among the most important skills cited by those interviewed for this report. Whilst technical skills can be learned, softer skills are just as important to success.

The key findings of the research were:

1. Marketers recognise that there is already a high degree of complexity in their roles, and that

there is even more to come, but many feel underprepared in terms of skills to deal with the

degree of complexity they see coming. This is both a challenge, and an opportunity.

2. There is a growing importance in some key vertical skills, notably content-related skills,

mobile and social. Broader skills areas including customer experience, data and content are

perceived as growing in importance in the future.

3. Marketers anticipate more capability coming in-house, leading to a greater breadth and depth

of skills requirement.

4. The balance between specialist and generalist skills continues to be tricky, particularly with a

continually shifting dynamic with companies applying more specialist vertical expertise to

some key functions, whilst others become increasingly covered by more generalist staff.

5. There are some notable skills gaps and a potential ticking talent time bomb in data and

analytics.

6. The rise of the marketing technologist and more technically-adept marketers. A new dynamic

with differentiation increasingly coming from those with skills complementary to machine

intelligence.

7. The growing importance of softer skills in marketing. The need to combine digital expertise

and approaches with classic marketing knowledge, but beyond this, the heightened relevance

of key softer skills including adaptability, articulation and persuasion, hunger to learn,

collaboration, empathy, creativity, curiosity and passion.

8. The continuing relevance of and demand for so-called ‘T-shaped’ and ‘Pi-shaped’ people who

can combine vertical expertise with broader empathy and understanding.

9. Marketers as the new journeymen, change agents, disruptive innovators.

https://econsultancy.com/blog/62668-our-modern-marketing-manifesto-will-you-sign#i.xdsjc3g6rewx11




1.1. Methodology The aim of this research was to identify the key issues, challenges and opportunities around the

evolving skills of modern marketers in response to the rapidly changing digital marketing and

media environment.

The methodology involved three main phases:

Phase 1: desk research to identify relevant issues, examples and models.

Phase 2: a series of in-depth interviews with a range of senior digital and non-digital

marketers across sectors as diverse as automotive, technology, healthcare, retail and B2B.

Phase 3: an online survey of relevant senior staff across a range of organisations and sectors

designed to better quantify feedback.




1.2. About Econsultancy Econsultancy’s mission is to help our customers achieve excellence in digital business, marketing

and ecommerce through research, training and events. Founded in 1999, Econsultancy is used by

more than 600,000 professionals every month, and has offices in New York, London and

Singapore.

Our subscribers have access to research, market data, best practice guides, case studies and

elearning – all focused on helping individuals and enterprises get better at digital.

The subscription offering is supported by digital transformation services which include capability

programmes, training courses, skills assessments and audits. We train and develop thousands of

professionals each year as well as hosting events and networking that bring the Econsultancy

community together around the world.

Subscribe to Econsultancy today to accelerate your journey to digital excellence.

Call us to find out more:

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Other related Econsultancy content

Digital Marketing and Ecommerce Trends and Predictions for 2014

https://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-marketing-and-ecommerce-trends-and-predictions-for-2014

Digital Marketing: Organizational Structures and Resources Best Practice Guide

http://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-marketing-organisational-structures-and-resourcing-best-practice-

guide

Digital Content Strategy Best Practice Guide

http://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-content-strategy-best-practice-guide

Agility and Innovation Best Practice Guide

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Securing Board Buy-in Best Practice Guide

https://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-transformation-securing-board-buy-in-best-practice-guide

Insourcing and Outsourcing: Striking the Right Balance for Digital Success

https://econsultancy.com/reports/insourcing-and-outsourcing-striking-the-right-balance-for-digital-success

http://econsultancy.com/subscribe

https://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-marketing-and-ecommerce-trends-and-predictions-for-2014

http://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-marketing-organisational-structures-and-resourcing-best-practice-guide

http://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-marketing-organisational-structures-and-resourcing-best-practice-guide

http://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-content-strategy-best-practice-guide

https://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-transformation-agility-and-innovation-best-practice-guide

https://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-transformation-securing-board-buy-in-best-practice-guide





1.3. About the author Neil Perkin (http://www.onlydeadfish.co.uk/) is a renowned

blogger, writer and the founder of Only Dead Fish, a digital

and media consultancy that specialises in applying strategic

understanding of social and emerging media technologies to

help businesses innovate and optimise their effectiveness

within the new, networked communications environment.

Neil is a consultant with Econsultancy, a regular keynote

speaker across Europe on content strategy, emerging media,

digital marketing innovation and social technologies, and

writes regularly for FutureLab, Marketing Week and The

Marketing Society amongst others.

Neil curates the quarterly series of Firestarters thought-leadership events on behalf of Google UK

and has worked with market-leading global businesses including Warner Bros, HBOS, YouTube,

Marks & Spencer, Leo Burnett and Disney, and is an associate of The Futures Agency, a

collaboration of some of the world’s leading media thinkers and futurists. For people who like

shiny things, he has won more industry awards than just about anyone in UK media, with five

awards to his name including a Campaign Award, two Media Week Awards and an Association of

Online Publishers award.

He has over 20 years’ media owner experience and was latterly the Director of Marketing,

Strategy and Digital for IPC Media, the largest consumer publisher in the UK and publisher of

multimedia brands including Wallpaper, Marie Claire and the NME. In this capacity he ran

award-winning strategy, planning and consumer insight functions and was at the centre of

defining and implementing the digital strategy for one of the largest media owners in the UK.

http://www.onlydeadfish.co.uk/




2. Soft Skills

2.1. The importance of soft skills in modern marketing Almost all of those interviewed for this report spoke of the importance of softer skills in modern

marketing, alongside more vertically-focused expertise. Some mentioned how essential it is for

those with more digitally-focused skills to have an appreciation at least, and ideally good

knowledge of, traditional marketing and brand skills (and vice versa). Whilst digital is changing

marketing forever, classic marketing skills are still essential and those that can combine the two

are well positioned within the broader organisation.

Interviewee feedback

“With more ‘digital natives’ coming into workforce the temptation is to feel like they know a lot when actually they have a lot to learn in terms of traditional marketing skills. So humility is really important – people (including senior people) can be defensive about things they don’t wholly understand so arrogance can torpedo a project.”

Head of Digital, Automotive

Alongside this, many identified the ability to appreciate the broader context of the vertical

function within the wider marketing or business context as also being significant, and the ability

to able to talk to the rest of the business in jargon-free ways, understand their requirements and

needs and interpret that into digital marketing solutions.


“Talent is not just about developing expertise in a vertical channel. A key skill is the need to articulate well internally to stakeholders.”

Global Head of Online Acquisition, B2B

A couple of the interviewees felt strongly that it was the softer skills that will increasingly be the

key differentiator of the future.


“The softer skills are what will define the successful digital marketer of the future.”





2.2. Key soft skills When survey respondents were asked to rate which softer skills were most significant from a pre-

selected list, the ability to embrace change, to spot opportunities and adapt strategies quickly, and

also being passionate, curious and hungry to learn, were those that scored most highly as being

‘very important’. It was clear from this, and from the interviews, that adaptability and being self-

motivated and continuously learning were considered as critical softer skills for today’s modern

marketing environment.

Figure 1: How important would you say the following softer skills or behaviours are to being an effective marketer in the modern digital world?

Respondents: 106

Note: None of the respondents said that these softer skills or behaviours are ‘very unimportant’.

For a more fulsome list of which soft skills respondents cited in the research see Section 2.7.

In general, interviewees believed that some overarching, broader areas were increasingly

important for all marketing roles in order to give important context and align capability: an

aptitude for content and content marketing, a broad understanding of digital channels and an

appreciation of the role and approaches of social media and marketing. This, aligned to a clear

commercial understanding and customer focus, is seen as relevant for all modern marketing

roles.





“Customer focus is really important. Big data is all well and good but if you don’t know who that customer is you can’t really optimise it.”

Director, Ecommerce, Healthcare

Articulation – the most important soft skill?

The ability to work well with other teams in the business, create compelling arguments, bring

non-digital people on board with strategies or programmes, articulate digital well and work

effectively with offline or traditional marketing teams was seen by some interviewees as critical,

and perhaps even the defining soft skill. With alignment of strategy and activity across multiple

customer touch points ever more important, this is seen by many as business critical.


“It’s really important to take the whole organisation with you so people who have the ability to articulate in compelling ways are critical.”

Head of Digital, Healthcare

While the integration of digital into business as usual across many different areas of the business

is improving, there is still a perceived need to educate and inform.


“I can’t foresee a time when digital people will not need to educate other parts of the business but they need to speak the same language.”


2.3. Softer skills and recruitment – how Google hires In a recent New York Times interview, Laszlo Bock, the SVP of people operations for Google,

discussed the criteria that Google uses for hiring staff. While vertical skills (such as technical

skills) are important for a good proportion of roles, Google also puts significant emphasis on

softer skills, most notably on the ability to learn:

“For every job, though, the no. 1 thing we look for is general cognitive ability, and it’s

not I.Q. It’s learning ability. It’s the ability to process on the fly. It’s the ability to pull

together disparate bits of information.”

This, says Bock, is critical in enabling different and new thinking. Qualities such as this are

assessed using structured behavioural interviews that are validated to ensure they are predictive.

Other softer qualities, including willingness to take ownership, intellectual humility (“without

humility, you are unable to learn”), emergent leadership (willingness to step in) and leadership

humility (“to be an effective leader in this environment you have to be willing to relinquish

power”) are also prioritised. Interestingly, Bock also noted how the proportion of people without

any college education at Google had increased over time (now as high as 14% in some teams).

When interviewed for this report, marketing technology writer Scott Brinker supported this view,

saying:

“If there is one skill to watch for it’s the ability to be a self-motivated learner.”

The rapidity of change in sectors, markets and customer behaviour means that the really valuable

skill is in continually adapting the knowledge you have.




So is too much emphasis in digital recruitment put on direct experience and skills rather than

important softer skills? Feedback from interviewees certainly felt that such softer skills were

increasingly important in a rapidly changing business environment.


“Candidates’ digital presence is relevant – what happens when you Google someone’s name? If what you find is smart thinking, signs of passion and interest, then this acts in candidates’ favour significantly. ‘Digital reputation’ is increasingly important.”

Marketing Manager, Recruitment

2.4. Fixed vs growth mindsets In her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck

describes a fundamental difference in how we view our personality, and between what she calls

‘fixed’ and ‘growth’ mindsets. A ‘fixed’ mindset, she writes:

“…assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which

we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent

intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed

standard.”

In this way, striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the

sense of being smart or skilled. A ‘growth’ mindset, on the other hand:

“…thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a

heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities.”

Out of these two mindsets which we manifest from a very early age, says Dweck, originates a great

deal of our behaviour, and our relationship with success and failure in both professional and

personal contexts.

When discussing the kind of softer skills and behaviours that are increasingly important in the

context of modern marketing, several of our interviewees talked about how critical the right

mindset and approach to failure has become in dealing with challenges and problems.

http://www.amazon.com/Mindset-The-New-Psychology-Success/dp/0345472322/




Source: Two Mindsets. Stanford, magazine article, 2007, Carol Dweck: Mindset: The New Psychology of

Success, 2006. Design: Nigel Holmes




2.5. Is growth hacking a thing? Not yet as least. The growth hacker is a role that originated in Silicon Valley, and focuses on the

early stage acquisition and retention of users through combining traditional marketing and

analytical skills with those more akin to product development. A number of well-known

technology companies and applications (including Twitter, LinkedIn and Quora) have used

growth hackers to drive early user growth, capitalise on network effects and help get the product

established.

However, feedback from interviewees indicated that the fundamental principle behind the growth

hacker role (that of bridging the divide between marketing and product development, and

combining traditional skills with newer, data-driven, user-focused ones) is a valuable one. Behind

this, is a desire to create more joined-up customer experiences, utilise customer interaction data

better, and have marketing increasingly ‘baked-in’ to products and services.

2.6. T-shaped and pi-shaped The value of so-called ‘T-Shaped’ people in modern marketing has been reflected in feedback

from the surveys for both the 2011 and 2013 Organizational Structures and Resourcing Best

Practice Guides. T-shaped people are defined as those who have a strong vertical expertise but

also wider knowledge or empathy for other digital disciplines. This is not to say that vertical

expertise is less important, but more that when this is combined with that wider understanding it

is increasingly valuable in appreciating the wider context of specialist work, identifying

opportunities for greater collaboration or efficiencies, and seeing the bigger picture.

At the end of 2012, Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein built on this idea, talking of the value of

so-called ‘pi-shaped’ people.1 These are marketers “with a broad base of knowledge in all areas,

but capabilities in both ‘left brain’ and ‘right brain’ disciplines. They are both analytical and

data-driven, yet understand brands, storytelling and experiential marketing”.

Interviewees for this report universally agreed that ‘T-shaped’ people were very valuable in their

own businesses in providing the connective tissue between roles and knowledge, but also difficult

to find. This challenge in recruitment means that those that have this softer and broader skill will

continue to be highly sought after.

1 http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/opinion/why-modern-marketers-need-to-be-pi-people/4004503.article

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/opinion/why-modern-marketers-need-to-be-pi-people/4004503.article

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/opinion/why-modern-marketers-need-to-be-pi-people/4004503.article




Some of those interviewed also recognised that (for some roles in particular) the ability to

combine creative attributes with more analytical or data-driven approaches could also be

particularly valuable.


“People who have the ability to look end-to-end in the customer journey and understand the whole process are

increasingly important – a good combination of vertical skills and horizontal is important for digital marketing

now.”

Head of Digital, Healthcare

2.7. A checklist of softer skills to consider Alongside vertical skills, there was some good feedback from interviewees around some key areas

of softer skills that were considered important in modern marketing. These are attributes that

modern marketers look for in existing staff and new recruits, and might be summarised as

follows:

Collaboration: having a naturally collaborative way of working, ability to work well with

other teams across the business.

Articulation/presentation: clarity when articulating digital ideas / concepts /

requirements, persuasive presentation of ideas, ability to talk the same language as non-

digital, avoid unnecessary jargon, and frame digital concepts in compelling ways. Good

writing skills.

Empathy: empathy with the requirements of other functions and stakeholders,

understanding of the role within the bigger picture of company or business strategies and

objectives, empathy with customer needs.

Data/insight-driven: the ability to extract insight from multiple sources and make digital

data actionable for the rest of the business (as one interviewee put it: “Making data simple so

it can be actionable customer insight”), data-driven decision making.

Adaptability: embracing uncertainty, comfortable with change, know when to compromise

and when not.

Creativity/lateral thinking: the ability to make connections between diverse ideas,

concepts, data, to originate new ideas, fresh thinking, challenging thinking, thinking big.

Action-oriented: willing to get stuck in, bias towards action.

Passionate: have the hunger and passion for continuous learning and to embrace change.

Curiosity: willing to explore new ideas, interesting concepts, to be intellectually curious.

Technophiles: keen adopters of new technologies, enjoy learning about technology, working

with it, seeking out improved ways of doing things using technology.

Project/campaign management skills: even if they are not project or campaign

managers, the ability to understand the importance of these ways of working, think

holistically, be organised, work well with processes and work well with other team members

to deliver projects or campaigns.

It was notable that many of these areas identified by respondents were common with those

mentioned in The Modern Marketing Manifesto.

https://econsultancy.com/blog/62668-our-modern-marketing-manifesto-will-you-sign#i.xdsjc3g6rewx11




3. Vertical Skills

3.1. The development of broader skills areas Survey respondents were asked to consider the relative importance of broader skills areas such as

brand, strategy, customer experience and multichannel. When considering which of these broader

areas has grown most in significance over the past few years, there was a relatively even split

across the most popular named areas: customer experience, multichannel, content and data.

These areas were closely followed by social, technology and strategy.

Figure 2: Which of these broader skill areas would you say has grown the most in significance for marketers over the past few years?

Respondents: 112

Note: Respondents could check up to three options.

The comparatively even split in responses illustrates a point that was echoed in the interviews –

that marketers have had to up-skill in a broad cross-section of areas in response to rapidly

changing technologies, markets and competitive landscapes.

Some interviewees pointed out how a number of roles (such as those associated with content

marketing for example) now required more than one vertical skillset.


“There are now not so many roles which are one specific skillset – most now need an appreciation of at least other verticals, and many are more general roles like digital marketing exec. Companies are now looking for people who can do a number of things.”





3.2. Vertical skills development Feedback from the organisations interviewed for this report was notable in identifying a few key

vertical areas where skills have become more important; particularly content-related skills,

mobile and social. This was echoed by the findings of the quantitative survey which identified

content marketing as one of the top three skill areas which respondents believed had grown most

in significance over the past few years (together with social media and analytics / data).

Figure 3: Over the past few years, of these skill areas, which would you say has grown the most in significance for marketers?

Respondents: 112


Some skills that have traditionally been viewed in very vertical contexts were seen by some

interviewees as more fundamental.


“SEO is now considered a basic skill – not the more technical aspects, but a good solid understanding should be a pre-requisite. And we believe an understanding of social is fundamental, as is ability to write good copy.”





3.3. Broader skills in the future In considering the broader skills areas that are likely to grow most in significance over the next

few years, customer experience and data again scored highly. Customer experience and data were

selected as important skills at present and an even larger share of marketers selected these as

growing most in significance in the next few years. This indicates that these skills, whilst already

important, are perceived as becoming even more important than they already are.

Figure 4: Which of these broader skill areas would you say will grow the most in significance for marketers over the next few years?

Respondents: 112





3.4. Vertical skills in the future When asked to consider the future, and which vertical skills areas they anticipate growing the

most over the next few years, the results reflected similar areas to those which have already

become more important, most notably: mobile marketing, content marketing and web analytics /

data.

Figure 5: Over the next few years, of these skill areas, which would you say will grow the most in significance for marketers?

Respondents: 111


It was interesting that mobile marketing was perceived as becoming even more important than it

is now. A number of the interviewees noted that mobile marketing skills should now be a given,

rather than a nice-to-have, but this is clearly a rapidly developing area (including in skills and

understanding) and one which will only become an increasingly important part of the modern

marketing skillset.

Adobe research mentioned in Section 4.1 contains a question relating to the areas of highest

demand for marketing talent. Data, content, social and mobile related skills areas were seen to be

most in demand.




Source: Adobe, Digital Roadblock: Marketers Struggle to Reinvent Themselves, March 2014

3.5. Adapting to the modern marketing world Last year, Eloqua released a study on Defining the Modern Marketer: From Real to Ideal. The

study found that the modern marketer persona is ideally comprised of a hybrid high level

combination of brand, digital and content skills, and has an optimal combination of five essential

competencies that impact their work: marketing technology, analytics, conversion, engagement

and targeting. Set out on a scorecard, these five areas add up to 100% but it was interesting how

marketers also rated themselves as falling short compared to the profile for an ‘ideal’ marketer.

Figure 6: Characteristics of the ideal versus the actual modern marketer

Ideal vs. Actual Modern Marketer

Important Characteristics Ideal

Marketer

Actual Modern

Marketer

Marketing technology (workflow automation, marketing automation, integrated CRM, social monitoring, business intelligence)

14% 9%

Analytics (leveraging Big Data, understand marketing ROI, measuring contribution to revenue)

13 8

Conversion (prospect-to-customer strategy, collaboration with sales,

delivering high quality leads) 19 12

Engagement (the right content delivered at the right time, appropriate PR,

web, social, blogging, events, demand generation) 24 16

Targeting (knowing involvement in buying process, roles & responsibilities defined, dynamic profiling aligned with changing market & business needs)

30 21

Source: Eloqua, March 2013

In its presentation on The Makings of The Modern Marketer, US-based Altimeter Group defines

the aims of the modern marketer as:

http://www.eloqua.com/resources/white-papers/defining-the-modern-marketer.html

http://www.slideshare.net/andrewjns/oracle-napa-modern-marketer-blog




1. To provide consistent, exceptional, personal experiences.

2. By leveraging the right customer data.

3. And delivering the right message, in the right channel, at the right time.

Ability to integrate activity and data across multiple touch points in the organisation is critical for

this.

3.6. Greater degree of insourcing, greater need for skills Data from the survey conducted for Econsultancy’s Insourcing and Outsourcing: Striking the

Right Balance for Digital Success report2 revealed that while a third of respondents (32%)

believed that more capability for their marketing organisation would be outsourced over the next

few years, nearly half (45%) anticipated more would come in-house.

Figure 7: Thinking about the next few years, overall, do you think more digital work will be carried out in-house or outsourced?

Source: https://econsultancy.com/reports/insourcing-and-outsourcing-striking-the-right-balance-for-

digital-success

This greater development of in-house capability is leading to a greater breadth and depth of skills

requirement for marketing teams. Some of the interviewees talked about how the organisation

had to learn entirely new capabilities and often made mistakes along the way, in their efforts to

adapt to rapidly changing requirements. This is something that is perceived to continue beyond

the short term.

2 https://econsultancy.com/reports/insourcing-and-outsourcing-striking-the-right-balance-for-digital-success








3.7. Specialism and generalism Interviewees stressed that the balance in composition between specialist and generalist skills in

the modern marketing team is continuously shifting. Over half (56%) of organisations surveyed

for Econsultancy’s Digital Marketing: Organizational Structures and Resourcing research said

that they had in-house specialist digital resource within the digital marketing team (focused on

one vertical area of expertise), and the average proportion of roles within the digital marketing

team that were typically allocated discipline-specialist resource was 27%.

The main areas for which organisations have dedicated digital marketing discipline specialists

included:

1. Website analytics/data (51%)

2. Website design and build (51%)

3. Email marketing (45%)

4. Social media (37%)

In contrast, the main areas for which organisations had allocated more generalist in-house

resource included:

1. Content marketing (66%)

2. Display advertising (61%)

3. Social media activity (57%)

4. Community management (54%)

5. Search engine optimisation (54%)

Analysing the 2011 and 2013 results by function revealed some key differences which were also

reflected in feedback from interviews conducted for this report. Shifts were evident in the

following areas:

Search engine optimisation: smaller proportion of organisations had allocated specialist

resource to SEO (33% in 2013, 47% in 2011). Feedback suggested that in some organisations

responsibility for SEO had moved to become part of the wider remit of content producers.

Website analytics / data: here, a larger proportion of companies were allocating specialist

resource (43% in 2011, 51% in 2013). The growing significance and sophistication in this area

is perhaps behind this, with many companies wanting to keep valuable customer data close at

hand.

Email marketing: a shift from generalist to more specialist expertise in this area. Over a

third (36%) had specialist resource allocated in 2011, compared to 45% in 2013, reflecting the

continuing significance of CRM and email marketing.

Mobile marketing: a small proportion of companies had dedicated specialist resource in

mobile (16%), but this had risen from 12% in 2011.

The balance between specialist skills and roles that are more generalist continues to shift, but

business focus (e.g. retail), priorities and objectives are key influencing factors in the decision.

Generalists are perceived as being able to join functions and expertise together and often provide

the ‘glue’ between specialist areas, see the bigger picture, identify opportunity and appreciate

broader needs or priorities. Specialists can apply specific knowledge and expertise for business

benefit, optimise effectiveness in vertical channels, improve capability and track new

developments.




3.8. Skills gaps – the ticking talent time bomb The Organizational Structures and Resourcing Best Practice Guide, published in September 2013,

identified some key vertical areas where marketers anticipated growth in resourcing/upskilling

(below). Notable among these was content marketing, which was seen as the greatest growth area,

closely followed by social media and analytics/data.

Figure 8: Which areas of requirement for digital resourcing / upskilling do you

anticipate will grow most over the coming year?

Respondents: 98

Source: https://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-marketing-organisational-structures-and-resourcing-

best-practice-guide

The research for that report, and that conducted for the previous iteration of the Organizational

Structures and Resourcing Best Practice Guide in 2011, indicated that some of those areas (most

notably analytics and data) were also functions that were already proving more difficult for

companies to recruit staff.

Feedback from the interviews conducted for this report is consistent with these results. While

marketers are anticipating growing demand for resource most notably in data and analytics,

finding good people with these skills is increasingly difficult. This indicates that as the data and

analytics function within companies becomes more important, as it undoubtedly will, marketers

may well find that they are facing a looming talent shortage in key areas.

https://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-marketing-organisational-structures-and-resourcing-best-practice-guide







“Data skills are undoubtedly more important. Larger companies might have people who are specifically there to

feed in to the marketing department (business analysts), so a really valuable skill for other roles is knowing what

questions to ask, how to interrogate data, how to extract insight and interpret and apply in useful/interesting

ways.”


3.9. The rise of the technically adept marketer

The growing importance of technology to marketing

The Marketing Budgets 2014 report3, published by Econsultancy in association with Responsys

earlier this year, looked in detail at how companies are allocating their online and offline

marketing budgets in 2014. The survey results highlighted the requirement for marketers to

maintain a high level of investment in technology in order to remain competitive. Over two-thirds

(70%) of companies surveyed were planning to increase investment in digital marketing

technology in the coming year.

Company respondents Figure 9: What best describes your plans for digital marketing technology spending in 2014?

Respondents 2014: 230

Respondents 2013: 338 | 2012: 205 | 2011: 193

Source: https://econsultancy.com/reports/marketing-budgets

3 https://econsultancy.com/reports/marketing-budgets

https://econsultancy.com/reports/marketing-budgets





This figure was remarkably consistent with the findings from previous surveys. When asked to

identify where this increased investment would be focused, CRM was the top answer (with half of

companies surveyed planning to spend more in this area), followed by business analytics and web

analytics software (47%), email platforms (40%) and content management systems (40%).

Implications on skills

Respondents to the survey conducted for this report were asked to what extent they agreed that a

good understanding of technology is critical for senior marketing leaders.

Figure 10: To what extent do you agree that a good understanding of technology is critical for senior marketing leaders?

Respondents: 106

Over two-thirds of responding organisations (67%) strongly agreed that this was critical,

indicating just how essential technology, and the skills associated with it, has become now to

marketing.

When asked about the main benefits that a good understanding of technology can bring for senior

marketing leaders, the ability to maximise the potential of digital channels was the most popular

answer. This was closely followed by the ability to deliver better customer experiences.




Figure 11: What are the main benefits that a good understanding of technology can bring for senior marketing leaders?

Respondents: 101


The rise of the marketing technologist and technical CMO

Scott Brinker, well-known writer and blogger on the subject of marketing and technology, was an

interviewee for this report. He has written about the ‘rise of the marketing technologist’ before,

describing the increasing number and scope of technology-based decisions that marketers are

now faced with, encompassing three overlapping areas:

Source: Scott Brinker




In the earlier stages of the development of the internet, says Brinker, marketing had quite a light

requirement on IT, and IT was mostly focused on internally-facing systems and requirements.

However, as the web exploded, these two worlds collided, leading to frustration on both sides.

Eventually, staffers who had come from a tech background but knew how to work with a

marketing team (or vice versa) began to build bridges and understand both sides.

While the fundamentals of marketing and IT remain true, these people recognised that this is

about a new kind of marketing, and the emergence of marketing technologists began to exploit

the overlap between these two worlds – an approach or role that is fundamentally about the

ability to fluently leverage technology to deliver great marketing programmes or customer

experience. Does everyone in the marketing department need to be a tech expert? No, but a little

marketing technology expertise can make a great deal of difference, according to Scott Brinker:

“Maturity in this area requires both authority and expertise. These need to be in balance

– whenever you’re out of synch you have problems.”

Source: Scott Brinker

If marketing wields too much technology authority without a matching level of expertise, says

Brinker, you risk a ‘cowboy’ effect – the IT equivalent of a ‘rogue state’. On the other hand, a tech-

savvy marketing team that is too tightly restricted by IT policy is a ‘prisoner’ (and if you lack both

authority and expertise you’re in trouble). The sweet spot is in the middle.

In Econsultancy’s Progression of Agency Value : Developing a Model for Agency Maturity in a

Digital World report4, a model was developed (based on a model from ‘The Experience Economy’,

by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore) in relation to the future of agencies which described a

progression away from commoditisation of services and towards developing richer customer

experiences for clients and ultimately to helping drive transformation.

4 https://econsultancy.com/reports/the-progression-of-agency-value

https://econsultancy.com/reports/the-progression-of-agency-value




Source: https://econsultancy.com/reports/the-progression-of-agency-value

This model is also relevant when considering the role that marketing technologists can play, and

the potential to drive not just better customer experiences but transformations in their

companies. A stable marriage of marketing and technology is required for this potential to be fully

realised.

In terms of skills, both vertical and broader skillsets are important. Incorporating technology and

technical capability into creative thinking and in the service of how marketing is going to create

better customer experiences is increasingly important. But so is the interpretation and

articulation of technology. Most people in marketing, says Brinker, are not technologists and find

the explosion of tech in marketing uncomfortable. Good marketing technologists are those that

can be ‘tech counsellors’, explain and bring to life how marketers can capitalise on tech

opportunities, and speak the same language. This strongly echoed feedback from other

participants interviewed for the report.





4. Challenges and Opportunities

4.1. The reinvention challenge Anyone in marketing knows that their jobs are in a constant state of change. In a recent Adobe

survey, two-thirds (64%) of those surveyed expected their role to change in the next year (rising to

81% in the next three years). Interestingly, organisations that have higher digital spend are more

likely to believe that a fundamental change in the approach to marketing is required to succeed,

and that marketing is undergoing a revolution.


Furthermore, 40% stated that they wanted to reinvent themselves as marketers, but only 14% said

that they actually knew how to go about it.

Key barriers/drivers of change

Among the barriers to change and to becoming the marketers they aspire to be, key obstacles were

cited as lack of training in new skills (30%) and organisational ability to adapt (30%). Key drivers

of change noted were the proliferation of channels and platforms, new forms of audience

engagement and new technologies for analysing marketing effectiveness.





4.2. Skills as a barrier to progress Research conducted for the Econsultancy’s Digital Marketing: Organizational Structures and

Resourcing Best Practice Guide5 revealed that the ability to find recruits with relevant skills was a

significant barrier (identified by 37% of respondents) to digital progress and organisational

change (second only to legacy systems and processes).

Feedback from the qualitative interviews identified analytics and data as a particularly

challenging area to recruit for (see Section 3.8), alongside content-related skills, revealing an

ongoing challenge for many organisations.

4.3. Closing the skills gaps In 2012, Eloqua released the Marketing Skills Gap survey (conducted by Focus and the Marketing

Automation Institute, 500 respondents) revealing that marketers are struggling to acquire the

right skills to do their jobs effectively. Three-quarters (75%) of respondents in the study stated

that their skills gap was having an impact on their corporate revenue. The whitepaper detailed

five steps to closing the skills gap:

1. Get commitment from the CEO: top-down support for learning and development,

appropriate resourcing of the function and space for staff to spend time learning is critical.

2. Allocating funds to address skills development: training budgets may be hit during

tough times, but it is false economy to reduce investment in staff progression.

3. Develop a long-term education strategy: on going, progressive learning over a one-off

programme.

4. Support skills training for specific roles: reflecting vertical expertise requirements as

well as more general knowledge building.

5. Offer multiple channels for development: people learn in different ways, so flexibility is

key.

5 https://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-marketing-organisational-structures-and-resourcing-best-practice-guide

http://www.eloqua.com/content/dam/eloqua/Downloads/whitepapers/5-Steps-for-Closing-the-Skills-Gap.pdf






The 70-20-10 model for learning and development

The 70-20-10 learning and development model based on research and observation (accredited to

Lombardo and Eichinger and the Center for Creative Leadership) is a useful model for

considering a comprehensive approach to learning inputs:

70% from tough jobs, learning in the workplace, direct experience

20% from other staff, leaders, mentors

10% from courses and reading

Closing the skills gaps in the wider organisation

Research conducted for the 2011 and 2013 Organizational Structures and Resourcing Best

Practice Guides indicated a notable shift in emphasis in the priority given to digital training for

traditional marketers and staff in non-digital roles. While in 2011, only 17% of respondents

described the digital training for traditional marketers as being given a high priority in their

company, by 2013 this had increased to 30%. Similarly, while 27% of respondents in 2011

believed that digital training for other staff in non-digital roles in their organisation was

attributed a high or medium priority, this had increased to 40% by 2013.

Nonetheless, despite digital being reported as having of key strategic importance to just about

every organisation that took part in the survey, it was notable that over half (55%) of those that

participated in the research still believe that digital training is given a low priority for the

organisation generally, suggesting a continuing disconnect between intent and action.

4.4. Geographical challenges in recruitment Several interviewees (who worked in organisations not based in London) talked about the

additional challenge of recruiting the best talent to office locations outside of major urban

centres, and particularly London. This was particularly true for technical or specialist areas of

expertise.

The impact of geography on the decision of potential recruits as to which companies they would

work for is something of a hidden barrier to those organisations that are based in London

perhaps, but remains a challenge for those who are not. Although this is perceived as being a

situation that has perhaps eased to a degree over the past year, it remained a concern for a

number of interviewees.


“We’ve previously struggled with talent due to being based in the North West – this is still a challenge but is now getting better as more people with digital skills are getting older and moving out of London.”

Head of Digital, Retail




4.5. The growing role of freelancers As part of the research conducted for Econsultancy’s Insourcing and Outsourcing report, a

number of the interviewees mentioned a greater use of freelance talent to augment existing

organisational capability.

The advantages of a greater utilisation of freelancers was perceived to be improved flexibility,

efficiency and access to specific talent. Some respondents to that research had even gone as far as

developing their own network of freelancers (notably in functions related to content or

developers) that they might utilise as and when required.

The growing success of freelance networks such as Elance is illustrative of the fact that many

companies are open to exploring new ways of working with talent.

4.6. Learning cultures

Empirical creativity

In Great by Choice, Jim Collins (author of Good to Great) studied companies that had risen to

great things in difficult times. One of the key differentiating factors that he identified between

these companies and others that had done much less well was the practice of ‘empirical creativity’.

Collins uses a ‘bullets’ and ‘cannonballs’ metaphor to define this. Instead of putting significant

resources behind untested ideas (firing cannonballs), the more successful businesses had begun

by preparing the way with lots of low cost, low risk, low distraction tests (firing bullets first) at a

far smaller scale. This had enabled them to develop learnings about what works and what doesn't

work early on and effectively make lots of ‘little bets’. Empirical creativity is thus a blend between

creativity and discipline.

A number of interviewees mentioned the importance of learning, and passion for continuous

learning, as an increasingly critical skill. Having a culture where failure is more acceptable

requires the focus to be always deriving the learning from that failure. People who are brave,

willing to try new things, curious and open to learning will be critical to the new corporate and

marketing environment.


“We look for people who are typically the smartest person in the room but don’t act like it. People who have

empathy, who can learn and who can combine knowledge and intuition with data driven decision-making.”

Head of Digital, Automotive

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Choice-Uncertainty-Thrive-Despite/dp/1846573483




4.7. Marketers as journeymen Innovation specialist John Willshire (of Smithery Innovation Works) drew a parallel between

modern marketers and agency personnel and the process for how medieval goldsmiths became

masters of their craft, drawing from Richard Sennett’s book The Craftsman.

After a seven-year apprenticeship learning from a master, young goldsmiths became

‘journeymen’. This involved spending time in different workshops and responding to

opportunities that arose in different places and in different contexts. Such variety enabled the

journeyman to grow as a craftsman. It was only following this process that they might present to

the guild in whichever city they wanted to set up shop in as masters. The guild judged the

journeymen on their judgement about how and when to use the material rather than their ability

to use the materials (in other words the application of the skill, rather than the skill itself).

There is, says Willshire, a parallel with the modern marketing and agency workplace. While

conventional wisdom focuses on the benefits of retaining staff through from apprentice to master

status (retaining knowledge, cost efficiency, consistency of work, organisational memory gets

longer), the fluidity and transience of journeymen brings significant benefits in terms of scope of

input and perspective and the ability to bring fresh thinking into an organisation. Such input can

challenge existing assumptions and habits that are otherwise difficult to unpack.

When asked about whether they felt that marketers were moving jobs more frequently, a number

of the interviewees agreed and noted that the term that many marketers stay at a given

organisation is shrinking, often in their view more noticeably than other functions within the

business. In other words, marketers are journeymen. Could this mean that companies that are

more attuned to capitalising on this phenomenon can derive greater competitive advantage?

Some interviewees believed this to be true.

http://smithery.co/making/the-good-master/




4.8. The growing role of automation Several interviewees mentioned the growing role of automation in marketing technology as being

relevant in the context of marketers increasingly needing to have skills associated with not only

understanding technology, but optimising it as well.

In his book Average is Over economist Tyler Cowen speaks of how the labour market is about to

be transformed by machine intelligence, and how job prospects will be increasingly linked to the

ability to successfully complement and augment it. Workers, he says, will more and more be

defined by whether their skills are a complement to what machines and algorithms are doing:

“…only being technically skilled may not be that useful, because those jobs can be

outsourced or even turned over to smart machines. But people who can bridge that gap

between technical skills and knowing some sector in a way that’s more creative or more

intuitive, that’s where the large payoffs will come.”

Areas that require human attributes, judgement and intuition, including marketing and

management, will still need those very human approaches but even here, differentiation will come

from those whose skills can augment machine-driven capability:

“People who can judge that there’s more to the matter than the software can grab;

people who can judge the fact that there’s a need for a different kind of software for the

problem; people who know when to leave the software alone and get out of its

way…Those are difficult to acquire and often quite intangible skills, but I think they’re

increasingly valuable.”

4.9. Marketers as change agents Some of the organisations interviewed for this report talked about how marketing was driving a

significant degree of change within their organisation. With a significant degree of change being a

continuous reality for just about every company, people who embrace change and beyond that,

change agents who can drive change, can be valuable.

At the end of 2013, Katherine Graham-Leviss (founder, president of the talent-assessment

company XBInsight) wrote an HBR article describing What Change Agents Value at Work and

detailing a ‘change-agent profile’ (based on extensive data on Fortune 1000 executives across a

wide spectrum of industries). They identified five core strengths as key indicators of effective

change management:

1. Demonstrates flexibility and resilience. Adapts as situations change, works well with

disparate types of individuals or groups change, manages pressure and setbacks effectively.

2. Recognises growth opportunities. Looks for ways to improve and minimise resistance to

change.

http://www.amazon.com/Average-Is-Over-Powering-Stagnation/dp/0525953736

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/what-change-agents-value-at-work/




3. Strives for results. And improving performance.

4. Leads courageously. Takes responsibility, takes charge of initiatives and situations, is

comfortable making difficult decisions, doesn’t avoid conflict, is open and clear with opinions

and needs.

5. Gains buy-in. Explores ways to reach solutions that have support from others.

This was overlaid with consideration of four behavioural styles based on their own version of

the DISC methodology personality assessment, and the five competencies were correlated with

values to determine the type of environment they find most rewarding and motivating.

Interestingly there was a stronger correlation with a desire for achievement, power, adventure

and creativity, and less of a correlation with independence and altruism.

While a variety of values are no doubt important in the composition of any team, if change is

critical to the business it may well be worth considering appropriate softer values such as

achievement, task-orientation in existing and future staff.

4.10. The five skills of disruptive innovators Almost all of the interviewees conducted for the research stressed how important innovation, and

the skills that might be associated with it, was to their company.

In The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators, authors Clayton

Christensen, Jeffrey Dyer and Hal Gregersen propose that there are five key discovery skills that

facilitate innovative and disruptive ideas and make up the “innovator’s DNA”:

Associating: the ability to link together previously disconnected ideas to create new, original

ones, to cross-pollinate experiences and perspectives but also to see the potential links.

Questioning: questioning approach (and often ‘why’, not ‘how’) that challenges the status

quo, comfortable with experimentation.

Observing: mindfulness, always observing.

Networking: open to, and sourcing different perspectives and ideas from a broad network of

people and input.

Experimenting: judicious but continuous experimentation, learning from failure along the

way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment




These five behaviours are complementary, acting to drive innovative thinking and practices, with

the ability to look at problems in a non-standard way becoming an increasingly critical

competency for any organisation that wants to successfully equip itself for the modern world.

4.11. Maturity in skills As part of its work in the area of digital transformation, Econsultancy has developed a simple

model to describe a staged approach to maturity focused on four critical, inter-related areas:

1. Strategy, change management, KPIs

2. Data and technology

3. People, teams and culture

4. Working practices, processes and tools

There are three key stages – companies that are emergent (at the beginning of the curve), a

managed stage and a more advanced optimised phase.

The model is useful in understanding high level maturity in skills, people and culture, but also the

context of that with other critical dependencies such as strategy, processes and use of technology.




5. Appendix

5.1. Modern Marketing Manifesto In May 2013, Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein penned a call to arms for marketers.6 The

Modern Marketing Manifesto provides appropriate context for this report, setting out some key

themes that echo many of the themes expressed in the findings from the research. The full text is

as follows:

The Modern Marketing Manifesto

Strategy

We believe marketers should sit at the board table and help set strategy. If you do not believe your understanding

of markets, products, customers and positioning plays a vital role in shaping strategy then you are not a modern

marketer.

Digital thinking should be embedded in marketing strategies as a matter of course. Digital may not be relevant to

every marketing effort but organisations need to properly consider digital and change their culture and processes

to become more digitally oriented.

It is a mindset rather than just an executional approach. If you do not ‘get digital’ then you cannot be a modern

marketer.

Great businesses look beyond the horizon. Great marketers have the vision to define the horizon.

Commercial

We believe modern marketers have to be commercial. This means knowing the P&L backwards. It means

knowing where money is being made and why. It means knowing how to measure and optimise key commercial

metrics. Marketers can, and should, take increasing responsibility for revenue targets.

With ecommerce the transaction is the ultimate click in the customer journey. Modern marketers must optimise

the customer journey along its entire path including the sales funnel and post-sale.

Sales and marketing must be more closely aligned and have common points of accountability.

Customer experience

We believe that improving the customer experience must be the relentless focus of modern marketing. We

believe this is key to customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Customer experience is about customer centricity as evidenced by the service or product that we deliver across

channels. It is about respecting the power and importance of great design.

Experiences are events, products, services, hardware, software, customer service. Indeed, every interaction with

a customer is an experience that we must make as relevant, pleasurable, easy and useful as possible for them.

Since resources and time are not infinite we need segmentation to help ensure we deliver the best possible

experience to our most valuable customers.

Integration

We believe that the mobile revolution is only just beginning. But we see beyond just ‘mobile’. Modern marketers

think about the whole customer experience and the multiple screens and touch points that control and mediate

it.

Customers do not recognise lines and nor should we. Online, offline, above the line, below the line... we need to

think and deliver experiences and marketing without delineation.

6 https://econsultancy.com/blog/62668-our-modern-marketing-manifesto-will-you-sign

https://econsultancy.com/blog/62668-our-modern-marketing-manifesto-will-you-sign




The Modern Marketing Manifesto (cont.)

Modern marketing must be connected, joined up and integrated. This includes internal integration and goes

beyond integration within the marketing function, across digital and classic skills.

Integration must also exist between customer facing functions. It is about working across the entire business and

collaborating with other functions, such as sales, technology, editorial, HR and customer service.

Brand

We believe the internet has forced transparency upon brands and businesses. Brands no longer control the

message, consumers do.

This loss of control means businesses must communicate authentically and this requires a clear sense of self to

which they can be true. In a digital age what modern marketers need most is a strong brand.

Data

We believe data must be turned into insight and action to be a source of customer, competitive and marketing

advantage. Data is the bedrock upon which successful research, segmentation, marketing automation, targeting

and personalisation are built.

Data allows us to predict future behaviour which is fundamental to creating strong customer lifetime value

models and optimising marketing effectiveness. Digital channels provide new and valuable sources of data and

customer insight that can be acted upon in real time.

If you do not see data as exciting, valuable and empowering then you are not a modern marketer.

Personalisation

In the quest to deliver outstanding brand experiences across channels, we believe that personalisation offers the

greatest opportunity to transform what customers currently get.

Digital channels in particular allow us to use everything we know about a customer to inform and optimise each

interaction. Location, device, screen size, usage characteristics, the weather… we are in an era where we have

exciting and powerful new data points to power personalisation.

Personalisation is not just for existing customers: we no longer need to know who the person is to provide

convenient and relevant experiences.

As modern marketers we respect the privacy of our customers and recognise we must deliver value to them in

exchange for personal data.

Technology

We believe technology is an enabler rather than a solution in itself. But modern marketers must be comfortable

and adept at procuring and using technology to their best advantage.

We believe modern marketers will have increasing ownership of technology at the same time as technologists

become more marketing-aligned.

Creative

We believe we need creativity just as much as we need technology. We need storytelling just as much as we need

data. We believe in the power of emotions and the irrational just as much as the rational.

If our marketing is to be modern we need the passion, creativity and craftsmanship of the right brain just as

much as the analysis and logic of the left brain.

The digital age is providing increasingly ubiquitous access to everything. In this context we need innovation and

creativity in our product and service design, as well as our marketing, to make an impression.

Content

We believe that content marketing and the focus on owned and earned media represents a fundamental shift in

marketing that is more than a fad.




The Modern Marketing Manifesto (cont.)

Content is more than just words, pictures or video. Games, apps, events, APIs and so on deliver rich content

experiences too.

Content reinforces a brand’s credibility and authenticity in what it stands for, believes in and cares about. For

modern marketers, content is a vital expression of the brand.

Social

We believe social media is about changing our business culture, the ways we work and the ways we engage with

our colleagues and customers. It is about creating businesses that have social in their DNA.

It is about realising that everything, including our marketing, now happens in an environment where customers

can, and will, talk about what we do and can share it with the world.

Modern marketers know that ‘social’ is not a choice.

Character

The preceding points outline what we believe marketing now is. But what does it mean to be a modern marketer?

How do we behave and what defines us as professionals?

We believe the following characteristics are the hallmarks of the modern marketer:

Accountable - we expect to be held accountable for the value our marketing delivers. We believe in validated

learning over opinions and conventions.

Ethical - we believe our marketing must be ethical. It must be honest and respect customers, particularly

their personal data and consent to use it.

Customer focused - we believe we must put the customer at the centre of what we do. We must listen to

customers and be the voice of the customer within our organisation.

Agile - we must be responsive and adaptive. We embrace change. We believe in flexibility and iteration.

Collaborative - we believe collaboration with colleagues and customers is far more powerful than silos and

hierarchy. We want to share knowledge and skills.

Innovative - we are not afraid to try new ways of doing things. We are curious and always learning.

Brave - we like to try new things. We are not afraid of failure as we learn from it.

Passionate - above all we are passionate about what we do. We know it can always be done better. And our

quest is fun.




5.2. Respondent profiles

Geography

The online survey covered a number of regions, including EMEA, North America and Asia Pacific,

but the majority of respondents were based in the UK. Respondents interviewed to provide

qualitative feedback included those with global, regional and country-specific responsibilities.

Figure 12: In which country/region are you (personally) based?

Respondents: 145




Business sector

A broad cross-section of industries and sectors were covered in the survey, with some of the best

represented sectors including professional services (17%), financial services (17%) and retail

(14%).

Figure 13: Which of the following best describes the industry your organisation operates in?

Respondents: 139

The qualitative interviews also included participants from a range of industries including retail,

B2B services, automotive, recruitment and healthcare.




Size of organisation

There was a broad spread of organisation size represented in the survey. The largest proportion of

respondents worked for companies with 100 employees or less (31%), but a significant proportion

worked for organisations with between 101 and 10,000 employees (48%).

Figure 14: How many people are there in total within your organisation?

Respondents: 139

Participants in the interviews also represented a broad spread of organisation size.




Size of marketing team

Around two in five (43%) organisations surveyed have marketing teams with 10 or fewer people,

while a quarter (25%) have between 11 and 30 people. The remainder had larger teams, with a

sizeable proportion (18%) having teams approaching 100 staff.

Figure 15: How many people are there in total within your marketing and communications teams?

Respondents: 139




Turnover

There is a similarly broad spread in annual company turnover for the companies included in the

survey.

Figure 16: What is your annual company turnover?

Respondents: 107

The qualitative interviews also reflected a wide range of company size and turnover.




Business focus

The organisations represented in the survey also reflected the full scope of B2C and B2C focus.

Figure 17: Is your business focused on B2B or B2C?

Respondents: 107




5.3. References and further reading Algorithms Won’t Replace Managers But Will Change Everything About They Do

(Harvard Business Review)

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/algorithms-wont-replace-managers-but-will-change-everything-

about-what-they-do/

Defining The Modern Marketer – From real to Ideal (Eloqua)


Digital Marketing: Organizational Structures and Resourcing Best Practice Guide

(Econsultancy)

https://econsultancy.com/reports/digital-marketing-organisational-structures-and-resourcing-

best-practice-guide

Digital Roadblock: Marketers Struggle to Reinvent Themselves (Adobe)

http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/solutions/digital-marketing/pdfs/adobe-

digital-roadblock-survey.pdf

Five Steps for Closing The Skills Gaps (Eloqua)

http://www.eloqua.com/content/dam/eloqua/Downloads/whitepapers/5-Steps-for-Closing-the-

Skills-Gap.pdf

Five Years From Now CMOs Will Spend More on IT Than CIOs Do (Forbes)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaarthur/2012/02/08/five-years-from-now-cmos-will-spend-

more-on-it-than-cios-do/

Great By Choice (Jim Collins)


How Google Hire (New York Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-

google.html

Insourcing and Outsourcing: Striking the Right Balance for Digital Success

(Econsultancy)

https://econsultancy.com/reports/insourcing-and-outsourcing-striking-the-right-balance-for-

digital-success

Marketing Budgets 2014 (Econsultancy / Responsys)


Modern Marketing Skills and Competencies – Definitions (Eloqua)

http://topliners.eloqua.com/community/know_it/blog/2014/03/28/modern-marketing-skills-

competencies-definitions

The Five Skills Of Disruptive Innovators (Farnam Street)

http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/12/the-five-skills-of-disruptive-innovators/

The Good Master (John Willshire)


The Innovator’s DNA – Mastering The Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators (Jeff

Dyer, Hal Gregersen, Clayton M. Christensen)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1422134814/a_fwd-21

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/algorithms-wont-replace-managers-but-will-change-everything-about-what-they-do/

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/algorithms-wont-replace-managers-but-will-change-everything-about-what-they-do/




http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/solutions/digital-marketing/pdfs/adobe-digital-roadblock-survey.pdf

http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/solutions/digital-marketing/pdfs/adobe-digital-roadblock-survey.pdf



http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaarthur/2012/02/08/five-years-from-now-cmos-will-spend-more-on-it-than-cios-do/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaarthur/2012/02/08/five-years-from-now-cmos-will-spend-more-on-it-than-cios-do/


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html?_r=2

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html?_r=2




http://topliners.eloqua.com/community/know_it/blog/2014/03/28/modern-marketing-skills-competencies-definitions

http://topliners.eloqua.com/community/know_it/blog/2014/03/28/modern-marketing-skills-competencies-definitions

http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/12/the-five-skills-of-disruptive-innovators/


http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1422134814/a_fwd-21




The Makings of the Modern Marketer (Altimeter)


The Modern Marketing Manifesto (Econsultancy)


The Progression of Agency Value: Developing a Model for Agency Maturity in a

Digital World (Econsultancy)


The Rise of The Digital CMO (Harvard Business Review)

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/04/the_rise_of_the_digital_cmo.html

The Rise of The Marketing Technologist (Scott Brinker)

http://chiefmartec.com/2010/04/rise-of-the-marketing-technologist/

We Need to Change How We Think About Talent (Forbes)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/01/10/we-need-to-change-how-we-think-about-

talent/

What Change Agents Value at Work (Harvard Business Review)


What is Growth Hacking? (Quora)

http://www.quora.com/Growth-Hacking/What-is-Growth-Hacking




http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/04/the_rise_of_the_digital_cmo.html

http://chiefmartec.com/2010/04/rise-of-the-marketing-technologist/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/01/10/we-need-to-change-how-we-think-about-talent/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/01/10/we-need-to-change-how-we-think-about-talent/


http://www.quora.com/Growth-Hacking/What-is-Growth-Hacking

skills of the modern marketer (by econsultancy)

Internet