The past 12 months have completely altered the way brands approach their digital initiatives, according to a study by creative management platform Bannerflow, which surveyed senior European marketers to investigate how in-house marketing teams are evolving in 2022.
The report includes responses from businesses in a range of different industries, including entertainment & media, mobile & online gaming, retail & e-commerce, iGaming, consumer tech, financial services, telecoms, travel and CPG/FMCG.
The study found that more than half of respondents have increased in-house team headcount by one to two people (29%) or three to five people (28%).
The financial services industry is leading the way in adopting full digital competency within in-house marketing teams – cutting external agencies. And more than one-third in the entertainment and media space said their in-house teams were larger than 11 to 20 people
Other key insights include:
- 97% of companies have moved at least part of their digital marketing in-house
- 49% of the marketers are working remotely full time
- 67% of brands have increased their digital marketing initiatives
- The main priority for industries advancing their digital strategies in 2022 is wanting to build a more efficient data strategy (42%)
- 48% report that the demand for content has increased over the past 12 months
- 29% of respondents state that their agencies have become less flexible with their fees
- Respondents in travel (40%) reported that agencies have become more involved with marketing operations
- 42% have increased their volume of production due to changing consumer demands
- Influencers are going to play a key part of digital strategies in 2022, with 38% increasing their online influencer engagement
- Content creation is the key skill industries want to improve upon (26%)
- The main way in-housing has helped brands become more innovative is having a digital-first mindset, and in turn this has produced new types of campaign content (43%)
- 53% no longer use external agencies for digital marketing, and are fully independent David Lundgren, CEO of Bannerflow, explains: “This year’s report is our biggest and most comprehensive yet. Suffice to say, it is the most authoritative reading of European in-house marketing available.
“In-housing continues to play an important role in ensuring success and resilience during what have been testing times. Indeed, external factors have once again helped to shape the state of in-house marketing in 2022. And it is clear that what was once called the “new normal” is now very much ‘normal’. Now is the time to take stock and define how in-housing continues to evolve.”
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