Australian Companies Lagging On Martech Know-How

Digital strategy agency, ntegrity, today announced the findings from its annual report titled Australian Digital Success Report, which looks at how Australian organisations – spanning mid-to-top-tier firms, NFP and government – are performing digitally, and what is holding them back from achieving digital success.

The Australian Digital Success Report is based on qualitative research with well-known brands, such as Dyson, Bupa, Target, WorldVision and Greenpeace, as well as quantitative surveys taken of more than 300 marketers, including senior executives and department heads, conducted over five months.

The report measures the digital confidence levels of Australian companies, categorising them into three main segments, ‘Digital Sideliners’, ‘Digital Climbers’ and ‘Digital Achievers’, and aims to understand the use and value of martech tools, the most important drivers of digital success and what is preventing companies from reaching Digital Achievers status.

Administered by independent market research agency, The Insights Grill, the study revealed key findings including:

• The largest challenge companies face with their martech is knowing what to invest in. This is a consequence of there being over 7000 platforms, software and technologies available to choose from, ranging from names like Salesforce and Facebook, to Hubspot, Adobe, Google, Mailchimp and Buffer.
• The number two challenge companies face with their martech is training staff on how to use the technology, highlighting the need for ongoing training.
• One in four companies experience buyer’s remorse by buying into a martech platform that fails to live up to its promise.
• One in four companies are unable to use the martech they’ve invested in (as it has proven not as simple as expected).
• Less than half of marketers speak completely positively about their martech stack and one in five report only negative things about it, with many citing it is a convoluted mess or in a never-ending state of construction.

Overall, the Australian Digital Success Report found a five per cent increase in Digital Achievers and a decline in Digital Sideliners, compared to last year’s report, indicating digital capabilities are growing in Australia.

Meanwhile, the findings revealed that company size had no bearing on whether an organisation could achieve digital success and yield the associated revenue growth; 84 per cent of Digital Achievers reported revenue growth, with almost half experiencing a 10-19 per cent incline, while only 67 per cent of Digital Sideliners experienced a revenue spike.

In the talent versus tech debate, the report showed that the digital talent shortage is by far the bigger problem facing marketers, with companies needing to shift their digital transformation focus away from the technology itself, to sourcing and training the talent needed to select, use, and take insights from it.

In fact, across the board, 76 per cent of companies reported finding digital talent is a challenge, with 42 per cent revealing it is their greatest challenge. Against the backdrop of these findings, the report discovered 48 per cent of businesses are increasing their spend on training or development for existing staff.

ntegrity founder and CEO Richenda Vermeulen (feature image) said: “The research reveals Australian companies growing in revenue are investing in digital training for their staff, bucking the national trends. When leaders prioritise investment in training, they retain talent and grow revenue more rapidly. We need to stop thinking about staff perks, like a Christmas party or beer fridge, as investments that drive a culture of performance, and instead, think about the professional development of our workforce.”

Vermeulen continued: “There are major issues the Australian Digital Success Report dives into around the marketing tech stack, with links to the existing problem of hiring and retaining talent. If you hire talent but they don’t have the right tools in place, it’s like hiring a Michelin Star chef and then giving them a microwave to cook with.

“How can organisations navigate the 7000+ martech options? Don’t fall into the art of “what’s possible” and be duped by a flashy sales pitch. Understand what you need, be led by your strategy and always insist on a pilot run. Speak with existing users of the tech to understand their experiences, as the most valuable intel will come from those who have been there, done that,” she added.