Australian marketers are some of the most sophisticated in the region, but are lagging when it comes to mobile app and SMS marketing.

Australian survey results reveal our marketing executives are, in general, the most sophisticated in the region, but are lagging in proficiency when it comes to mobile apps and SMS marketing.

That’s according to a survey and report by ADMA and Oracle titled, ‘CMO of Tomorrow’, which examined the roles, required skills and expectations placed upon marketing executives.

Almost 80% had at least eight-to-11 years experience, and 40% operated at director, VP or C-Suite level.

Analytics capabilities rate highly among Australians. 84% report that their organisations are either excellent or good, and 82% are excited to, or enjoy working with analytics.

As far as challenges and factors slowing the acceleration of digital marketing efforts, budget, poor education and understanding of digital technologies, and a lack of understanding around KPIs and digital marketing stood out – the same as they did in all geographies surveyed.

In terms of budget investment for next year, email marketing, automation and personalisation rate highly, and ecommerce rates highly compared to other regions.

Other findings in Australia include:

• 62% of Australian respondents have a specific revenue requirement in their KPIs,
• few were willing to describe their levels of sophistication around digital marketing with regards to people, process and technology as excellent. 22% consider themselves to be laggards in this field,
• failure by Australian executives to buy-in to digital marketing programs at 29% was the lowest level among all countries studied.

The report uses results from a survey of 450 senior marketing executives around Australia, New Zealand, India and Singapore which looked at how organisations are meeting the challenges and impediments faced in today’s digital market, and how their investments are likely to change in the year ahead.

“The CMO of tomorrow understands marketing needs to translate directly to bottom line results,” says Jodie Sangster, CEO ADMA.

“They build teams that can deliver ROI and create KPIs that deliver business outcomes.”

“Marketers are being given an increased remit, being responsible for the customer experience. This extends beyond traditional marketing and requires other departments such as IT, finance and technology to play a critical role in delivering the outcomes. Marketers will need to collaborate and mediate at the executive leadership level to ensure the brand stays focused, and the executive team buys into an ethos of genuinely putting the customer first.” says Sangster.

“Not every CMO is there today. The research shows significant differences between markets in relation to CMO skills and focus. In many markets, there are major shortcomings that need to be overcome to ensure CMOs are prepared for the future.”

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