There is increased pressure on marketers to improve digital skills as three-quarters of firms implement ‘identity-driven marketing’, according to research by The CMO Club and Signal.
Identity-driven marketing is when marketers use customer data to target their marketing campaigns and engagement effectively. The research found some companies had begun using their data to execute more direct contact with the customer – such as account-based marketing (ABM).
Mike Sands, CEO of Signal, said: “Traditionally, marketing departments were siloed into mass marketing and known-user marketing, with one side hardly talking to the other. Those divisions no longer make sense. Mass marketing and one-to-one marketing are now the same discipline, and this new survey shows that the CMO must now borrow the best from both worlds in order to succeed in today’s environment.”
Skills gaps need to be filled
The report, The CMO Club Solution Guide: The Quest for the perfect identity-driven marketer, said marketers needed to move beyond creative thinking and understand how to use technology and data.
More than half of CMOs are struggling to fill skills gaps in personalised technology. Measurement, analytics, multi-touch, attribution, and media mix optimisation also lack sufficient candidates.
Pete Krainik, CEO and founder of The CMO Club, said: “Having the right technology and tools are part of a CMO’s job, but how to use those tools to build an effective strategy and team relies heavily on the talent that today’s CMO must possess.”
Separate research by Winterberry group found US marketers are predicted to spend $900 million on services and solutions this year to leverage identity. This investment is set to rise to $2.6 billion in 2022.
The CMO Club report surveyed CMOs and heads of marketing at both B2B and B2C brands.
