How The Role Of The Marketer Has Become More Complicated

According to Keith Weed, chief marketing officer at Unilever, the life of a marketing professional has changed more in the last five years than it has in the last 25, Marketing Week reports. One of the biggest changes marketers have had to adapt to is the need to understand and analyse a lot of figures and numerous forms of data, the article notes.

Being able to evaluate the data gathered from various marketing activities is a new skill professionals in the field need to have, in order to stay ahead of competitors. As marketing becomes more diverse, incorporating a number of digital channels on top of more traditional marketing techniques; the ability of marketers to engage with this digital, data-fuelled sector is essential.

Recent research shows that 70% of marketers in the B2B industry believe their marketing team is lacking in essential digital skills – particularly those relating to analytics and reporting. This is particularly prevalent when it comes to measuring ROI, as despite 66% of respondents saying they do measure this metric, only 16% were confident that their results were accurate. A similar survey, which has been running since 2011, shows that measuring ROI has always been the top issue faced by marketers, the article notes.

Despite dealing with data on a daily basis, the fact that ROI can be measured from so many different areas often causes problems for professionals in the industry. Most marketing teams are overwhelmed and unsure where the best starting point is, nor what the best training approach would be.

Francisco Marco-Serrano, a senior lecturer on economics at GSM London, noted that “fine-tuning and being precise” is the key to ensuring the correct avenues of ROI are analysed, and teams’ time “is not wasted”.