Research: Digital marketing is quickly coming of age in Australia

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Posted 05 February 2013 01:06am by Jake Hird with 0 comments

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Econsultancy's annual report, the State of Digital Marketing in Australia, produced in association with Marketing Magazine, has found that the industry is continuing to develop at a rapid pace.

Investment in digital remains high, alongside an increased focus on measurement, attribution and channel accountability.

Nearly 500 respondents across the country participated and overall, more than two-thirds (68%) of client-side marketers say their companies expect to increase their digital marketing budget during 2013.

Service suppliers such as agencies and technology companies are as equally as optimistic, with 70% citing that their clients will be increasing investment in digital marketing this year. 

Client-side respondents: Are you planning to increase marketing budgets for 2013?

As further indication towards the levels of investment expected during the next twelve months, 80% of marketers say that digital now accounts for up to half of their marketing budget and a similar proportion also say that they will invest up to a third more into digital than they did last year.

In terms of a general market maturity beyond digital, the research carries echoes of PWC's recent "end of the digital beginning" statement. 

Australian marketers are beginning to demonstrate an increasing focus on elements of measurement and attribution, as well as how digital can be utilised in a multichannel context, with the majority marketers (90%+) expecting their digital marketing activity to be more measurable during 2013. 

More than half of respondents stated that they will be increasing investment in analytics tools, emphasising the development of quantifiable measurement within digital marketing. 

However, the status quo is that the understanding of return on investment from digital activities is fairly average among marketers, with more than a two thirds saying it is either "good" (36%) or "okay" (38%), combined with an increase of those who say it is "poor" (15%). 

Client-side respondents: How do you rate your understanding of return on investment from your digital marketing? (Year-on-year comparison) 

Despite this though, there is a very real hunger to develop digital and it's associated accountability, with 94% of marketers say that their digital strategies will be "more structured" than previous years. 

Ultimately, this means that increased attention is expected to be given to the elements of planning, management and measurement found within digital activity and already, the research demonstrates that the practices used to analyse digital performance are becoming more complex.