According to a report by the CMO Council in partnership with Adobe Systems Incorporated, Australian marketers reported higher investment and a more extensive use of digital marketing analytics and reporting technologies compared with other countries across the region.
The APAC Digital Marketing Performance Dashboard Report 2012 noted that an aggregate of 41% of Australian marketers who participated in the study spend 25% of their total marketing budgets or higher on digital marketing investments, compared with their counterparts in Hong Kong 28%, China 24%, Singapore 24%, India 20% and Korea 20%.
Some 84.5% of Australian marketers surveyed are using digital marketing analytics and reporting; this compares with Korea at 84%, Singapore 75%, India 63% and Hong Kong 61.5% and China 33%.
The study went on to reveal that 67% of Australian marketers surveyed cited customer preference as their reason for investing in digital marketing; the second key driver is the promise of greater productivity, visibility and accountability of marketing campaigns.
Adobe’s senior director for marketing, Asia Pacific, Mark Phibbs said Australia is leading the region by making higher investments in digital marketing.
“The research shows that companies across Asia Pacific understand the value of investing in digital marketing but are struggling with low budgets. Australia has realised the benefits of digital early compared with the rest of the region and has invested accordingly,” Phibbs said.
“Optimism is high right across the region about the business benefits of digital marketing with 93% of marketers surveyed believing digital marketing could create competitive advantage for their company, while 52% felt digital marketing was crucial in helping create a customer-centric, responsive organisation. Many countries have also been optimistic about expected investment levels in 2013 and the research shows spending is likely to double in the year ahead.”
Phibbs added that, despite predictions of future increased investment, the research had highlighted a digital divide among some countries across the region.
“The data has highlighted significant gaps between countries in their use of digital marketing analytics and reporting technologies.
“We can expect to see countries with the budget and skills to invest in establishing sophisticated technology platforms surge ahead of countries that are struggling to set up similar infrastructure.”
The APAC Digital Marketing Performance Dashboard Report 2012 was conducted by the CMO Council in partnership with Adobe, and included a six-month in-field programme comprising quantitative and qualitative surveys.
The inaugural study benchmarked the levels of adoption, traction and success of digital marketing in Australia, China, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and India; 295 senior marketers, within the Asia Pacific region, from a range of industries took part.
