A recent survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid answered questions regarding the real adoption of digital marketing by marketing professionals in Canada and the U.S., revealing that some 66% of senior managers are very interested in digital marketing, an increase of 10% since last year.
Conducted in October, the survey was done in collaboration with the Canadian Marketing Association,MarketingMagazine and the Direct Marketing Association of America. (The full results were revealed on November 2nd at the Digital Day conference in Toronto.)
The report also shows that a shift to digital media is also being embraced because it’s perceived as a cost effective way to reach consumers. The survey results indicate a quarter of all marketers agreed that plans for recovery from the recession include shifting marketing budgets online.
As a result, the shift to digital is affecting traditional media channels. Some 34% of marketers surveyed believe that “spending on TV will decrease over the next two years.” Budgets are shifting from radio, TV and print to digital (online, e-mail, mobile). It’s part of the trend away from mass media to targeted marketing.
According to the results, search engine marketing, social network marketing and blogging/micro-blogging (driven by Twitter) have all shown growth in the past year both in terms of familiarity and usage among Canadian marketers.
The findings reveal that not all digital marketing formats are being embraced equally, but they also indicate that once the familiarity grows the usage will follow.
The survey showed that 70% of marketers in North America are using search engine marketing and search engine optimization (up from 56% two years ago) and social marketing through sites like Facebook has grown among these marketers from 35% last year to 52% this year. The use of a tool like Twitter however is still in its infancy, as some 94% are familiar with it, but only 8% are using it as a marketing tool.
As the nature of media consumption by consumers continues to change, the report suggests that all companies must now be acting like “a media company”. Marketers must be more active and engaging directly with customers anytime, anywhere.
The opportunities look bright for those service providers able to assist and guide marketers through this digital maze.
