This sponsored post is produced by Marketo.
In 2014, innovation was the central focus for all marketing teams globally. But what does innovation mean? Even though it is frequently referenced in marketing content — from keynotes to blog posts — it clearly means different things to different people. To find out just what those differences are, Marketo took a survey of marketers on the perception of innovation in marketing both outside and inside their own organizations. This group was comprised of senior-level marketers, representing a wide variety of sectors — both consumer and business-to-business.
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Knowing your customer or prospect is the most powerful driver of innovation
When asked to rank what were the most important enablers of innovation, a large percentage of marketers 46%) felt that a deep understanding of the target market is the single most important requirement in driving innovation.
Innovation is widely accepted as having great importance in marketing
Nearly half (44%) of respondents suggested innovation as ‘very important’, with a further 36% reporting it as ‘important’.
Consumer brands are still perceived to be more innovative
To get a sense of how marketers perceive marketing innovation, we asked them to identify organizations they felt were leading the way with their marketing. A total of 74% of the companies identified market directly to consumers. Brands like Apple, Coca-Cola and Red Bull were some of the more popular choices but the message was clear; innovation is still seen as the domain of the consumer brand.
Culture is a key barrier to innovation
The urge to innovate is being constrained. Only 1 in 10 (10%) find their organizations’ marketing is innovative. The ‘average’ marketer finds his or her own innovation blocked by a risk-averse culture (77% describe their company culture in this way).
Technology, research and integration – the priority areas for marketing innovation
If marketers could innovate freely in any area, they would prioritize three things: (i) marketing automation and technology, (ii) market research and insight, and (iii) multi-channel integrated campaigns.
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Raymond Coppinger is Online Marketing Manager at Marketo based out of its European HQ in Dublin. Ray looks after Marketo’s paid, owned and earned digital channels for the region and is a little bit obsessed with all things online. Ray has a Masters in Multimedia Technology from UCC and lives in West Cork, Ireland.
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