The marketplace has gone digital and too many companies lack the skills and capabilities needed to effectively compete, suggests a new report from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
“Making matters worse, marketers are focusing their efforts on channels such as websites and search, from which consumers have largely moved on, at the expense of developing more valuable skills in far more important channels such as mobile and video,” the report authors tell us.
For the report, “The Talent Revolution in Digital Marketing,” the BCG Digital Capabilities Index (DCI) was created. The index ranks companies on eight digital skills and seven channels against a best-practice score of 100.
BCG surveyed 57 companies in the UK and Germany. The average company in the survey scored 57. While a few companies ranked higher than 70, the majority fell squarely into the 55-to-60-point range. The report makes it clear that some Industries, including retail and financial services, were at the bottom of the pack.
“Marketers’ priorities also reveal a disconnect with consumers’ digital behavior,” notes the firm. “When asked to identify their teams’ top three learning and development needs for the next 12 months, marketers across the board stressed strategy development and planning (an area of broad current strength).”
The problem? The marketers gave lower priority to the areas that actually matter in today’s digital advertising world, such as video, mobile advertising, display media, and testing.
For instance, in terms of video — using the technology to keep consumers engaged with a brand — a mere 13 percent of respondents said their companies are good at this.
“Companies are a lot further behind consumers than they probably thought,” said Dominic Field, a BCG partner and report coauthor. “The good news is that most companies are starting from the same place, and since digital talent is scarce, those that move quickly can open a lead that others will have a hard time closing.”
The BCG report was commissioned by Google Digital Academy. The Knowledge Engineers contributed insights and advice. The report is part of The Talent Revolution Initiative, which includes Google, BCG, and a team of marketing industry experts.
The report can be downloaded here.