Keeping pace with the digital transformation of the marketing industry could soon see UK agencies finding themselves in hot water. The pace has been set by Silicon Valley; its continuous delivery of new consumer platforms, marketing technology and hardware are forcing marketing agencies to keep up in order to deliver valuable futures on behalf of their clients. With thousands of extra staff required to fulfil this demand, it’s imperative that the industry begins to demonstrate its ability to deliver new disruptive digital services.
Technology and automation will not solve this problem for marketing agencies. Relevant skills and teams capable of working in blended, cross-industry disciplines are required for agencies to thrive during this evolution of the marketing industry. A recent study by Distributed revealed that 80% of marketing agencies are currently running ad-tech in their campaigns, yet only 37% described themselves as ‘tech savvy’. This insight follows the trend currently appearing in broader market research into the growing skills gap. According to a survey conducted by Nimbus Ninety and Ensono, two-thirds of decision makers claim they do not have the skills to service new IT models, highlighting particular gaps in data science and AI.
