Only 19 percent of interactive marketers can make campaign changes in less than 24 hours according to a new report from Sapient “Interactive Marketing Survey.”
The Interactive Marketing Survey found that marketers lack the tools to optimize their marketing efforts across the full spectrum of digital channels. More than half felt “only somewhat confident” or “not confident at all” in their firm’s ability to track campaigns on multiple channels in real-time.
Social networking was cited as the least “trackable” digital channel, but it was the channel with the largest anticipated increase in marketing analytics spend in 2008. Only 12 percent of marketers tracked social networking campaign performance in 2007; in 2008, 42 percent plan on using analytics to track the channel.
Email (32%) and search (30%) were the two channels that marketers were most confident in their ability to track. Close to half said the do not believe campaign data provide to them evenly measures and compares performance across all digital channels.
Marketers are worried about the number of acquisitions involving Microsoft, aQuantive, Google, Double Click and others. Forty-one percent said they fear being lost in the shuffle with thousands of other clients because of consolidation in the online advertising industry.
“While marketers have developed an aptitude for tracking more traditional online channels, the emergence of social networking further complicates the interactive landscape,” said Sapient Chief Creative Officer Gaston Legorburu.
“In 2008, marketers will seek the ability to seamlessly incorporate this medium with their other channels, including search and email, and the capability to monitor and measure performance to ensure they are achieving optimum results.”
