Every senior professional in every industry has high expectations. Whether it’s for their teams around them or for the business as a whole, most people appreciate that no business makes progress without having high standards.
Having high expectations is certainly true when it comes to digital marketing. With so many companies trying to get ahead of the competition with the latest digital technologies, whether it’s for personalisation or customer engagement, it’s clear to see that digital marketers love pushing the boundaries to lay claim to being the “best at providing tailored experiences” or “the greatest at customer experience”.
But I’d go as far as to argue though that, actually, senior digital marketers have taken their high expectations just a bit too far. When it comes to devising digital strategies, a huge number of chief digital officers are perhaps overly optimistic on what they can actually achieve given their technology infrastructure setup, budget and company culture towards digital.
Digital strategies ‘fit for purpose’ … Really?
Research by Acquia found that, while 83% of heads of digital believe their digital strategies are fit for purpose, 65% also see implementing digital across the business as their number one strategic challenge, highlighting the huge gap between digital strategies and execution.
Among those challenges of digital execution include personalisation, managing content and website delivery. In terms of personalisation, one in three of heads of digital believe that customers’ unwillingness to share personal data is hindering progress, and 27% believe their teams lack the skills and knowledge required to personalise effectively. Where content is concerned, 45% struggle with the varying quality of content across different regions because of the different frameworks they use in each region. And where website delivery is concerned, 71% of CIOs and 50% of CDOs are frustrated by the amount of time it takes to spin up a new site, whether that’s for a new region or new product.
So, given that chief digital officers understand the challenges associated with digital marketing, it seems strange that they also say that their strategy is ‘fit for purpose’. Those two notions being at odds with each other might suggest that marketers aren’t asking themselves the tough questions that really need answers.
Why organisations struggle with digital execution
One of the biggest reasons organisations struggle with digital execution is because different departments within the same organisations haven’t really bought into the idea of digital in the first place. The same Acquia research found that half of digital heads lack support from team members and those in other departments. These departments clearly haven’t seen the value that digital can bring in terms of generating extra revenue for the business and driving brand loyalty. Instead, they’re happy to continue with the same approach they’ve been taking for years. More worryingly, 37% of heads of digital say they lack support from their own board of directors. So clearly, there’s a huge culture problem in organisations.
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