Insight: Technology for Marketing, the IDM and Pure360- Marketing teams will need to change to keep up with technology

Technology for Marketing, the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM) and Pure360 have released ‘The Marketing Team Structures Report 2017’. The new research reveals how marketers are resourcing and restructuring to cope with the technological challenges of the years ahead.

According to the marketers surveyed, a third (33%) of marketing teams expect to become more specialist in 2017, with just 3% becoming more generalist in their expertise. However, just over one in ten (12%) of marketers said they exclusively ‘own’ the marketing technology they increasingly rely on, instead having to rely on partnerships with IT and external technology teams to get results. Highlighting the need for restructure and specialist skills in order to continue to drive effective marketing campaigns.

‘Marketing strategy’, ‘Content production’ and ‘Customer insight’ are considered to be the most important skills for modern marketing teams. The report reveals a diverse range of skills which are important to marketing in 2017, how importance varies between B2C, B2B and Not for Profits, and which can be outsourced to agencies, consultants or freelancers.

Luke Bilton, director Digital & Content at UBM, said: “This report makes it clear that no one person can master all the skills that marketing requires in 2017. There is a clear trend for marketing teams moving away from all-purpose marketing managers towards specialist roles, agencies, freelancers and other departments.”

Jane Cave, MD at the IDM, said: “This report highlights the changing relationship between marketing and IT that will perhaps herald the most significant developments in digital marketing and skills going forward. It seems to me that great digital marketing often emerges from the crossover points between different skill sets. The merger of marketer insights and technologist skills will provide significant advantages to any business.”

Komal Helyer, head of marketing at Pure360, said: “Marketing teams have changed dramatically in recent years, and this evolution is predicted to continue at a significant rate. In business, change is inevitable and necessary, but historically slow and costly. The astonishing rate at which technology is changing the way we interact with customers is now putting pressure on businesses to evolve at a much faster rate than ever before.”