Nearly Half of Respondents Are Moving to Agencies with Greater
Knowledge of the Digital Space
Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE) recently
sponsored a national online digital marketing and interactive
advertising survey to gain insight into what marketers want from their
advertising and marketing agencies in the next 12 months. The survey
polled more than 200 chief marketing officers (CMOs) and senior
marketing professionals, all of whom are either directly or indirectly
responsible for managing digital marketing budget allocation across
multiple channels.
Survey respondents were asked about the top qualities they sought in
their advertising and marketing agencies in the coming year. Based on
the survey results, Sapient Interactive, Sapient’s
marketing services group, has created a Top 10 Wish List for
Agencies of the Future.
1. Greater knowledge of the digital space. With more than a third
of marketers surveyed revealing that they are not confident that their
current agency is well-positioned to take their brand through the
unchartered waters of online digital marketing and interactive
advertising, it’s clear that agencies need to
have a greater knowledge of the digital space in order to thrive. In
fact, nearly half (45 percent) of the respondents have switched agencies
(or plan to switch in the next 12 months) for one with greater digital
knowledge or have hired an additional digital specialist to handle their
interactive campaigns. Further, when it comes to an agency’s
area of expertise, 79% of respondents rated “interactive/digital”
functions as ‘important/very important.’
2. More use of “pull interactions.”
When trying to engage consumers with their brand, 90 percent of
respondents agree that it is becoming increasingly important that their
agency uses ‘pull interactions’
such as social media and online communities rather than traditional ‘push’
campaigns.
3. Leverage virtual communities. An overwhelming 94 percent of
respondents expressed interest in leveraging virtual communities (public
and private) to understand more about their target audience.
4. Agency executives using the technology they are recommending.
Ninety-two percent of respondents said it was ‘somewhat’
or ‘very’
important that agency employees use the technologies that they are
recommending. For example, it is important that agency executives
regularly use Facebook, Flickr, wikis, blogs, etc. in their
personal social media mix.
5.
