Deloitte survey: Marketers are looking to hire talent with more analytical skills

In today’s data-intensive environment, Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) around the world are looking to hire talent with more analytical skills, according to the Deloitte 2022 Global Marketing Trends report, as they consider that analytical expertise is becoming more important than creative skills in most of the industries – technology, media and telecommunications (34 percent vs. 23 percent), financial services (27 percent vs. 18 percent), energy resources and industrial products (24 percent vs. 16 percent) -, except for the consumer field (18 percent vs. 30 percent).The report also underlines that putting these skills together will require marketers to work on building greater collaboration inside their teams, both internally and externally, as only 25 percent of CMOs seem to prioritize collaboration, a smaller share compared to other C-suite roles – CFOs (42 percent), CIOs (39 percent) and CEOs (31 percent).

Even thoughconsumers may appreciate relevant ads, many also have concerns about how their personal information, purchase preferences and browsing habits are being used. In response, many web browsers are disabling third-party cookies. In this context, brands have identified other approaches to work around this issue and continue to effectively engage with customers, the report reveals, such as shifting to a first-party data strategy, applicable for both companies with double-digit growth (61 percent) and with negative growth (40 percent).CMOs working for high-growth brands are also well ahead of negative-growth brands in deploying first-party data in more sophisticated ways, specifically in delivering personalized content via dynamic creative optimization (51 percent versus 36 percent) and using data to serve ads to users via programmatic media (49 percent versus 29 percent).

“We have gone from physical to predominantly digital interaction overnight, with many brands excelling in this area and improving the lives of their customers. For example, more and more brands operating in the field of financial services have made substantial changes in terms of enrollment methods and digital customer journey, while the e-commerce sector has seen growth, the online environment becoming a frequent means of shopping. The next step will be to improve the hybrid experience. This means a better understanding of customers’ preferences and behavior in an era in which regulations regarding using cookies have tightened. The use of first party-data and the way brands will succeed in personalizing the content of the communication channels, adjusting the communication through the integration of customers’ feedback and building the right infrastructure will contribute to the success of the brand. Equally, to accommodate first-party data collection, it’s imperative to establish sufficient infrastructure, such as a comprehensive consumer data platform, that can help connect various data sources throughout the customer journey,” said Ruxandra Bandila, Marketing and Business Development Director, Deloitte Romania.

Creating and delivering a dynamic experience that can offer customers the right information and incentives at the right moment has become a top priority for brands, the report mentions, as timely offers for the electronics category (40 percent) and banking products and services (32 percent) and knowledgeable customer service for auto (39 percent) and travel (31 percent) products were indicated by customers as being the most helpful in making purchasing decisions. At the opposite side, consumers say that personalized recommendations and free trial/samples underperform in their purchase decision. In this context, the report suggests marketers to optimize artificial intelligence (AI) within the customer experience in order to help brands meet customers in their moment of need.

The study also highlights that the mix of physical and digital experiences has become the norm, as 75 percent of the respondents with executive roles said they would invest more in delivering hybrid experiences over the next 12 months, whose benefits are increased personalization (43 percent), innovation (43 percent), customer connection (40 percent) and inclusion (38 percent). Businesses can elevate their hybrid experiences by expanding choices, integrating feedback, and investing in the technological infrastructure that can bring these design principles to life. Moreover, brands can utilize these principles of human-centered design to make their physical and digital experiences as agile and flexible as consumers have come to expect.