Agencies to Continue Tech Investment in 2017

Kitewheel Mark Smith
Smith: “There is a clear skills gap preventing agencies from tapping into the growing demand for personalisation and customer journeys”

Agencies plan to boost their tech investments in 2017 despite acknowledging that a lack of skills is resulting in under-utilization of many existing tools. That’s the main conclusion of a study from Kitewheel, based on a survey of 134 marketing professionals who work for agencies in the US and Europe, conducted in the autumn.

Of those marketers who plan to make technology investments in 2017, 75 per cent report that they are looking to acquire tools for personalisation and customer journeys. 68 per cent of agencies report that clients are asking them to help deliver these experiences, and half of the respondents say this demand is driving them to launch a customer journey practice in 2017.

Many agencies are struggling with how to deliver effective journeys across channels, with 49 per cent admitting they do not have an established process. As they look to integrate marketing and break down silos to create effective customer experiences, agencies identified that the top use case opportunity involves unifying ad tech and martech systems to link acquisition and sales processes. This was closely followed by the need for ad tech journey attribution and omnichannel loyalty program best practices.

Despite the planned increase in tech investments and growing focus on customer journeys, many agencies are cautious about their ability to build the capabilities to deliver customer journeys in 2017. They point to a lack of skills and tools (54 per cent) as the key impediment in their ability to deliver customer journeys, with 64 per cent reporting that it will be 2018 or later before they are able to do so.
This demand for customer journeys varies by industry, with 65 per cent of agencies pointing to retail as the vertical with the most potential, financial services and travel coming in second, followed by automotive, telecoms and CPG.

“Our latest research reveals that agencies are still struggling to deliver omnichannel experiences, despite growing brand and customer expectations for them to do so,” said Kitewheel president, Mark Smith. “There is a clear skills gap preventing agencies from tapping into the growing demand for personalisation and customer journeys. Without proper guidance, agencies and brands will continue to invest in technology that doesnt deliver.”