Sophie Iredale shares her view of the digital marketing industry challenges and sustainability. With growing demands and poor confidence in digital makreting skills amongst practitioners and their clients what can help the Digital Marketing Skills Gap? See related video from the panel discussion https://youtu.be/aJWFT17CPG8

1. #passion4digital @SophieIredale
The Future of Digital Marketing
Sophie Iredale, University of Salford
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This
publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission
cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained
therein.

2. #passion4digital @SophieIredale

3. #passion4digital @SophieIredale
The Digital Marketing Skills Gap

4. #passion4digital @SophieIredale
The Digital Marketing Skills Gap
• Velocity =
• Deficit in skill
• Deficit in
understanding
• Deficit in people
• Low confidence
in training
• (Royle and
Laing, 2014)
• 9% of 1000 digital
marketers strongly agree
they had the optimal skills
to deliver a successful
digital marketing campaign
• (Adobe, 2015)

5. #passion4digital @SophieIredale
78%
of digital
marketing clients
have concerns
about the
competency of
their digital
marketing
partner/agency
(Hunt, 2014 –
Online Marketing Institute)

6. #passion4digital @SophieIredale
This is happening at a time of critical
mass…
6
0.47
0.83
1.37
2.02 2.18
3.35 3.54
4.10
4.81
5.42
6.30
7.19
8.61
9.71
10.9
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
IAB UK DIGITAL AD SPEND (£BN)

7. #passion4digital @SophieIredale
• If demand is rising but Practitioner
and Client confidence is low…
• No agenda, empirical or
conceptual research
examining how client and
stakeholders affect or are
affected by digital
marketing industry practice

8. #passion4digital @SophieIredale
• “the history of every dead and dying ‘growth’
industry shows a self-deceiving cycle of
bountiful expansion and undetected decay”
• (Levitt, 1960: 47)
• “Digital Marketing Myopia”
• (Durkin, 2013)
8

9. #passion4digital @SophieIredale
• The Digital
Marketing
Skills Gap
9
• The Digital
Marketing
Governance Gap

10. #passion4digital @SophieIredale
• The opportunities
for digital
marketing:
– Governance
– Standards =
Quality?
– Barriers to
entry =
Control?
– Ethical code
– Unity and
collaboration
– Transparency
= Welfare?
• The problem with
digital marketing:
– Lack of
Governance
– Lack of
standards
– No barriers to
entry
– No ethical code
– Fragmented
Industry
– Lack of
transparency

11. #passion4digital @SophieIredale
Recognition

12. #passion4digital @SophieIredale
And much more