The UK digital marketing industry needs to be more clear in how it markets itself if it is to make the most of the growing appetite for UK business investment in online and digital marketing according to independent research commissioned ahead of this years ad:tech London.
The research, conducted among over 900 visitors to last years show, reveals that nearly 48% of respondents expected to assign over 30% of their budget to digital marketing over the next 12 months, an increase of 9% since last year. The biggest reason for this level of investment was the fact that for over two thirds of respondents (62%) believed that online marketing delivered greater ROI than offline marketing channels.
The research also demonstrates the need for greater clarity in the way digital marketers position their services. Christophe Asselin, Group Marketing and Content Director for ad:tech, believes that many marketing strategies have been led by technological capabilities, while business sense has been forgotten. He says:
There are clearly opportunities for marketers to capitalise on the increasing investment by UK businesses in online marketing, however this needs to be allied with an understanding of business needs, not marketing jargon, he says. The language barrier has created a fracture between traditional and online marketing and has generated frustrations amongst many marketers integrating online within their current marketing strategy. The research shows the demand for tangible impact upon business growth, and as an industry, we need to understand that discussions about digital marketing need to first and foremost address business goals.
The research also found that this year was likely to see increased investment in mobile. Investment in mobile marketing was expected to more than double this year, with 37% of marketers expect investment in mobile marketing to more than double this year. To reflect this growing interest in mobile marketing, this years ad:tech show, which takes place from 22 23 september at Olympia, London, will, for the first time, host the Mobile Marketing Show. This new feature aims to bring together the UK's key agency buyers, brand marketers and mobile marketing vendors to discuss how businesses can more effectively use mobile apps and direct response strategies.
Mobile marketing is an area that is seeing huge growth at the moment, but this is twinned with uncertainty and a lack of understanding amongst many marketers of how it can be used, says
Asselin. Earlier this year, ABI Research estimated that, as new platforms for ad-supported mobile search, video and gaming content services arrive, mobile marketing is expected to grow to over $24 billion (14.6 billion) worldwide in 2013, from just $1.8 billion in 2007. This section of the show will provide practical advice on what options are available to marketers who are looking to harness the power of mobile marketing.
In addition, across the two day exhibition, more than 120 seminars have been streamed into topic driven areas covering: insight and research; marketing integration and campaign strategy; ad-networks; email marketing; online video; scial media; targeting; search; web analytics; and mobile marketing. Sessions have been designed to provide practical advice, drawing on the lessons from campaign case studies from brands including Coca Cola, COI, Kuoni, and Unilever. For the fourth year running, the show will also feature the Google University, offering marketers beginner and advanced classes on how tools such as Google AdWords can help businesses. The show is set to see over 200 marketing service providers exhibiting from across the digital marketing spectrum. 
You can see the full seminar and conference programme here.