Poor internal communication rising at an alarming rate according to senior marketers

Poor internal communication’ is rising at an alarming rate across the data and marketing industry, with 33% of marketers now stating this is impacting them. It is the challenge with the most significant growth this year (+7%), according to a survey completed by over 300 senior marketing professionals across the UK who judged the DMA Awards 2022.

“Poor internal communication continues to become of increasing concern to our industry since the pandemic began. Perhaps this is partly driven by remote working, with less face-to-face meetings and fewer opportunities to ask colleagues questions directly. Senior management teams must review this if we are to make a continued success of our new hybrid working models,” said Ian Gibbs, Director of Insight at the DMA.

While a ‘Limited budget’ remains the most significant challenge across the industry, it has declined in prominence over the past year (by -8% to 47%). ‘Lack of data’ closely followed it with 46% of marketers stating this – seeing an increase of +3% over the past year, suggesting that the UK data privacy reforms due to be pushed forward by government in early 2023 are quite timely.

“The lack of data challenges experienced by many businesses, especially SMEs, is one of the key reasons why the government is keen to reform UK data privacy legislation – to help foster an innovative and supportive business environment, while maintaining the fundamental principles of protecting consumers’ rights. The primary vehicle for this in early 2023 is the Digital Information and Data Protection Bill. It aims to outline with greater specificity how marketers can better reach audiences while respecting personal data,” added Gibbs.

Data and marketing-related training on the decline

The number of marketers receiving industry-specific training by their respective employers has declined by 10%, to just 58%, over the past 12 months. This is a worrying decline considering the growing number of creative, data and digital skills gaps plaguing the industry.

To help tackle the decline of specialised training the DMA is championing micro-upskilling, recently piloted by numerous DMA Members. It is hoped that with as little as one hour a week spent per employee to structured online learning and professional development, industry professionals can achieve far more consistent training on a regular basis.

Gibbs concluded: “With the upcoming changes to UK GDPR, we’re entering a new phase of data privacy regulation, likely requiring additional learning and training simply to keep up-to-date. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly integral for marketers to be well-versed in best practice of data acquisition, storage, and usage.”

The findings from the DMA’s micro-upskilling pilot will be published in January 2023.

To view all the latest bitesize infographics, visit: https://dma.org.uk/research/dma-insight-data-and-training-are-key-challenges-facing-the-industry

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