How the pandemic has upped the digital capability of brands worldwide

The State of the Industry 2022: Modern Marketing in EMEA report is based on input from more than 700 marketing professionals – a mix of client-side, agency, media owner and technology vendor marketers and was conducted across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in May and June this year.

Among the highlights of the report:

• The pandemic has resulted in improved digital marketing capabilities for a majority (70%) of businesses.
• Data is a key building block in digital marketing strategies and is being leveraged widely to drive improvements in marketing. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents say their marketing strategy is now driven by insights derived from consumer data.
• Over a third (38%) of marketing professionals are preparing for the advancement of Web3, while nearly half (44%) expect the Metaverse to impact marketing within five years.
• Despite brand awareness and generating sales being two key priorities in digital marketing, marketers are not always using metrics that enable them to measure brand and business outcomes. Metrics mostly used include engagement (68%), business (54%) and attitudinal (30%). 
• Audio and gaming are untapped opportunities for marketers, receiving a fraction of the overall marketing budget compared to other channels. Audio receives just 4% of digital advertising budgets and gaming a mere 3%, despite both being highlighted as consumer behaviours expected to significantly impact marketing.
• Multi-screening (cited by 53% of respondents) and watching video (50%) are recognised as the most significant consumer behaviours for marketing.
• Driving personalisation, AI and machine learning is the technology expected to have the most impact on marketing over the next five years, cited by 53% of the survey respondents, up from 49% in 2021.
• Skills (41%) and measurement (39%) are recognised as key barriers to growth in marketing across the EMEA region.

Paul Stringer, Managing Editor, WARC, said: “As a result of the pandemic, we observe a general improvement in organisations’ digital capabilities. However, measurement and skills’ gaps are clear areas of concern for the industry.

“It is also interesting to observe marketing professionals say they are preparing for the advancement of Web3, which promises to open up new creative and commercial opportunities for brands.”