Unappreciated: Businesses and Marketers Overlook the Significance of Marketing Strategy
In a recent survey by Marketing Week, businesses and marketers have identified marketing strategy as a highly undervalued aspect in today's competitive landscape. The survey reveals that over half of the participants believe that the importance of a strategic marketing approach is often overlooked, highlighting a crucial gap in understanding within the industry.
Marketing strategy is considered by marketers to be the most underrated skill by businesses, according to Our Website’s exclusive 2024 Career & Salary Survey.
According to a survey of 3,000 marketers, over half (53.7%) believe that marketing strategy is the most undervalued skill by businesses. This shows the frustration felt by marketers due to the lack of recognition and understanding of the core aspects of their role within the company.
Next in line is brand management, with 46.1% of marketers feeling that this skill is undervalued. Following closely behind is data analysis, with 32.7% of marketers expressing that this skill is often missing from their departments.
These top three skills were also identified as underrated by marketers in 2023, indicating that little has changed in how marketers perceive the value of these skills over the past year.
Around 23.9% of marketers feel that commercial acumen is undervalued, while 15.9% believe that advertising and marketing technology is the most underrated skill.
Regardless of whether marketers work in B2B, B2C, or a combination of both, the pattern remains consistent. In B2B businesses, marketing strategy is slightly more underappreciated at 57.1%, while in B2C, it stands at 53.8%, and with a mix of B2B and B2C, it is the lowest at 50.3%.
Similarly, brand management ranks second in terms of undervaluation across all types of businesses. Approximately 47.2% of marketers in B2B firms consider it undervalued, with slightly lower percentages in B2C (45.5%) and a mix of both B2B and B2C (45.4%).
Data analysis is often misunderstood by companies, ranking as the third most undervalued skill. When it comes to marketers working with a mix of B2B and B2C, data analysis is considered slightly more undervalued at 35.1% compared to those in B2C at 32.9% and B2B at 30%.
Looking at data from both large businesses and SMEs (companies with less than 250 employees), it is evident that marketing strategy, brand management, and data analysis are the top three most undervalued skills in the industry.
Stay tuned for a series of exclusive news and features on Our Website, focusing on the insights from the 2024 Career & Salary Survey. We will delve into topics such as the effects of burnout and the changing trends in work patterns. To catch up on all the latest updates, click here.
Editor's P/S:
The survey findings paint a sobering picture of the current state of marketing in businesses. Marketers' frustration stems from the undervaluation of their core skills, particularly in the areas of marketing strategy, brand management, and data analysis. This lack of recognition hinders their ability to contribute effectively to the company's success.
The consistency of these results over the past year suggests that businesses are still failing to grasp the importance of these skills. This is especially concerning in today's competitive market, where effective marketing is crucial for driving growth and differentiation. Marketers need to advocate for the value they bring and actively demonstrate how their expertise can translate into tangible business outcomes.
