How Digital Marketing is Being Reinvented - and Why You Must Keep Up

It’s conference season already and we’ve seen some interesting events so far, from MWC to SXSW to the Guardian Changing Media Summit. Next up, it’s the Adobe Digital Marketing Summit that took place at the end of March in Salt Lake City. This year’s summit was centered on the theme of reinvention in marketing and the challenges facing marketers. With our work in marketing transformation we know how it can be tough to keep up with digital marketing developments, so we’ve brought together the key resources to get you up to speed.

‘Digital has reinvented marketing. Summit helps marketers to reinvent themselves’.

Keynotes 

A mix of entrepreneurs, marketers and a few surprises formed the keynote speakers. 'The Reinvention of Marketing' saw Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen talk with guests including CEO and co-founder of Kickstarter Yancey Strickler and Jeff Titus from Audi of America talking about how marketing has been reinvented, and the newest innovations from Adobe Marketing Cloud.  Another strong keynote session came in the guise of ‘The Reinvention of Marketers’, which saw some interesting speakers discussing the challenges marketers face to reinvent themselves for the digital world. Ever wondered what a professional American football player and an Oscar-winning actor and director can teach you about transformation? Watch Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman and Robert Redford in conversation with Adobe’s John Mellor for inspiration in what it takes to transform personally and professionally. Watch the keynotes here on the Adobe Summit website.

Sessions

There are also a staggering number of breakout sessions available to watch online, from social media marketing, to marketing analytics, to personalisation and optimisation. All the videos are available to watch here – we’d particularly recommend the videos under ‘Marketing Innovations’. 

Are You Stuck at a Digital Roadblock?

Our most interesting takeaway was a new report released by Adobe at the summit, detailing how marketers feel about evolving in the digital age and what support they need to stay ahead of the fast-paced changes in marketing. Surveying over 1000 US marketers, ‘Digital Roadblock: Marketers Struggle to Reinvent Themselves’, the report revealed some startling revelations about how marketers perceive the changes to their role, and what the upcoming priorities in digital marketing are.

Key Findings 

Marketers and Reinvention

• 64% of marketers expect their role to change within a year, and 81% over the next three years.
• 2 in 5 marketers want to reinvent themselves, but only 14% know how.

Obstacles to Reinvention

• Marketers cited several blocks to reinvention, with 30% naming organizational inability to change and 30% naming a lack of training.
• Companies need to hire more digital talent, with the top hiring priorities for the next year including:
• Digital and social marketer
• Data analyst
• Creative services
• Mobile marketer

The Future of Marketing

• 72% of marketers agree they need to be more data-focused, however almost half of respondents said they still rely on their gut to make investment decisions.
• 72% believe their long-term success in their business is tied to proving ROI.
• 65% only adopt new technologies after they’ve become mainstream.
• 54% said they needed to take more risks.

Full Study - Digital Roadblock: Marketers Struggle to Reinvent Themselves from Adobe

Reinvent Your Marketing

The insights from the Adobe Summit reinforce the impact of changes we are seeing in traditional marketing methods as marketing software and technologies become ever more sophisticated. If any of the above challenges sound familiar, you may find marketing transformation helpful. Download our checklist to start transforming your marketing today.