A study conducted by CMO Council, reveals that only 9% of marketing executives and senior executives believe that traditional advertising agencies are doing a good job in terms of evolution and expansion of their digital capabilities.
On the contrary, 48% of respondents say they are hiring new agencies that offer specialized solutions in digital marketing to implement and develop new social, mobile and interactive marketing strategies in their companies, while 47% plan to develop internal teams to reduce what they delegate to traditional agencies. In parallel, 45% of these companies say they have the support and work of external consultants to develop digital programs or strategies.
What happens with traditional agencies? Many of them have been somewhat outdated or have serious difficulties to modify or adapt, mainly in their skills and basic capabilities.
However, 29% of respondents believe that traditional agencies are acquiring certain skills, but they still do not have full digital integration with their global marketing capabilities. However, 22% consider that many are playing catch-up driven by digital specialists while another 22% say they have serious difficulties in the transition to the digital business model.
So there is a certain frustration with traditional agencies, motivated by several points such as the lack of knowledge or understanding of the business by them, as indicated by 50% of respondents, followed by disagreements in analysis and metrics for measure success or failure or lack of added value in strategic thinking among other aspects analyzed.
Reactions and plans of companies
62% of companies consider the possibility of using external resources that can help them with applications and the development of mobile content, as well as manage and develop strategies with the aim of increasing the loyalty and commitment of consumers and potential customers in the social media. In addition, 52% of the companies that the executives surveyed represent plan to add new resources to support digital marketing strategies through different and multiple channels.
Only 36% of respondents say they are firmly committed to their agencies this year. Almost half (22%) say they are going to consolidate this relationship while 15% are not sure about it.
Regarding the reasons for proposing a change of agency, the main reasons mentioned were an efficient execution of the planned strategies, problems in their performance and the lack of new ideas.
Social networks and mobile marketing
57% of companies seek or have as their main objective to enter into play with social networks, while for 49% their priority objective is to improve their commercialization. In parallel, 40% expressed interest in entering the mobile brand applications market.
