Brand. Marketing. Martech.2020 Brand, Tech, Marketing, and Martech Statistics - The essential list

Key insights into the trends and technologies set to shape the future of brand marketing.

The essential list of brand, marketing, and martech statistics for 2020

Here at Bynder, we’ve got our ear to the ground to understand what marketers, brand managers, creatives and marketing technologists are paying attention to. That’s why every year we produce an original research report with OnBrand called “The State of Branding” which contains key insights into the trends and tech that will shape the future of brand marketing.

You can get the full 2020 State of Branding Report by 👉 clicking here 👈

But we’ve also compiled the highlights from the past four years of reports for you here. From marketing challenges to trends that will take us into the next decade, these brand, marketing, and martech statistics will help you envision and plan for what’s next in marketing and branding.

Customer marketing statistics

Putting the customer first continues to stay top-of-mind for brand managers and marketers. But the question remains, how well do marketers and creatives really know and understand their customers? Whether through buyer personas, market research, analyzing customer data, conducting customer interviews or through other methods, marketers are forever on the hunt to gain knowledge about what makes their customers tick and how to better serve them. These customer marketing statistics cover customer experience, customer engagement, customer acquisition, customer evangelism, customer retention, data, and personalization, mobile, and user experience.

Understanding the customer statistics

40% of marketers say that the customer matters most when it comes to brand perception and brand visibility in 2020.
67% of marketers have buyer personas to help them target and understand their ideal customers, while a vast majority of marketers invest in tools and methods to gain knowledge about their target audience.
6% of marketers report that audience knowledge is the most important component of a successful brand.
46% of marketers report they have a deep understanding of their audience personas.
80% of marketers plan to include audience personas in their brand strategy.
57% of marketers plan to include audience polls or research studies in their brand strategy.
According to marketers, consumer insights are fundamental for CMOs developing brand strategy in 2017.
41% of marketers said buyer personas are only moderately effective in helping their organization target its ideal customers.
45% of marketers have documented buyer personas.
35% of marketers have undocumented buyer personas.
13% have plans to create buyer personas.
7% have no plans to create buyer personas.
60% of marketers built their buyer personas by interviewing real buyers.
56% of marketers built their buyer personas by consulting stakeholders.
43% of marketers built their buyer personas by using online surveys.
36% of marketers use social media analysis to build their buyer personas.

34% of marketers use analyst reports to build their buyer personas.
32% of marketers use web research to build their buyer personas.
29% of marketers use web analytics to build their buyer personas.
According to marketers, buyer personas are ranked more effective for B2B organizations (63%) than B2C organizations (53%).
41% of marketers report their buyer personas are moderately effective at helping their organization target its ideal customers.
31% of marketers report their buyer personas are very effective at helping their organization target its ideal customers.
4% of marketers report their buyer personas are minimally effective at helping their organization target its ideal customers.
1% of marketers report their buyer personas are not at all effective at helping their organization target its ideal customers.
23% of marketers report their buyer personas are extremely effective at helping their organization target its ideal customers.
41% of marketers report that buyer personas are only moderately effective.
Website analytics (72%) and social listening (56%) are the most common digital methods marketers reported to use to gain knowledge about their target audience.
In 2017, 57% of marketers implemented a competitive analysis to understand a competitor’s target audience.
80% of marketers reported using customer feedback as a technique to gain knowledge about their target audience.
72% of marketers reported using website analytics as a technique to gain knowledge about their target audience.

Customer acquisition statistics

20.7% of marketers say that online advertising is the most impactful way to influence buying behavior in 2019.
12.2% of marketers say that offline activities and events are the most impactful ways to influence buying behavior in 2019.
18% of marketers cite new customer acquisition as their main marketing focus for 2018.
34% of marketers said new customer acquisition was their organization's main focus in 2017.
65% of marketers think that brand marketing has increased their new customer acquisition.
36% of marketers feel indifferent or disagree that brand marketing has helped increase their new customer acquisition.

Customer engagement statistics

Only 8% of marketers said engagement was their main focus in 2017.
Marketers report that they primarily use engagement metrics to determine the success of brand marketing.

70% of marketers feel that brand marketing has increased audience engagement.
30% of marketers disagree or are not sure if brand marketing has increased audience engagement.

Customer evangelism statistics

Only 4% of marketers cite customer evangelism as their main marketing focus for 2018.
Only 9% of marketers said customer evangelism was their main focus in 2017.

Customer experience statistics

1 in 3 marketers plan to optimize and/or improve their organization’s UX this year in an effort to differentiate their brand, while just 15% are planning to employ brand advocates in order to achieve the same goal.
39% of marketing operations professionals say that customer engagement and experience is the most popular reason for investing in new technologies.
4 in 10 brand marketers see excellent customer service as the most effective tactic for breaking through to consumers in today’s crowded digital landscape—more so than the product itself (15%) or the quality of brand campaigns (13%).
10.4% of marketers say that community involvement is the most effective tactic for reaching consumers in a crowded digital landscape.
40.5% say that customer engagement and experience is their main motivation for investing in emerging tech.
15% of marketers report that adapting to changing consumer behavior is the biggest challenge going into 2018.

25% of marketers cite customer experience as their main marketing focus for 2018.
19% of marketers say customer experience was their main focus in 2017.
13% of marketers report adapting to changing consumer behaviors as their organization's top marketing challenge.
52% of marketers report that user experience and customer experience are the most important components of a successful brand.
Marketers report that the value of customer relationships is on the rise.
64% of marketers are confident that their marketing provides an excellent experience for their audience.
36% of marketers are not confident or not sure if their marketing provides an excellent experience for their audience.
Marketers report that customer experience tools will be a major investment for them in 2017.

Data and personalization statistics

22% of marketers report that enabling better personalization is the best use of automation for marketing and branding purposes.
27% of marketers report that enabling data-driven creative decision-making is the best use of automation for marketing and branding purposes.
54% of marketers feel “very confident” in their ability to create personalized experiences for consumers.
Nearly 1 in 3 marketers believe the biggest challenge associated with personalization is aligning the right message with the right audience.
15.8% of marketers say that content personalization is the most effective tactic for reaching consumers in a crowded digital landscape.
23% of marketers say that having the right tech to support personalized content and experiences is one of the biggest challenges associated with personalization.
21.8% of marketers say that balancing personalization while maintaining brand voice is one of the biggest challenges associated with personalization.
16.6% of marketers say that generating personalized content efficiently is one of the biggest challenges associated with personalization.
12.8% of marketers say that generating personalized content affordably is one of the biggest challenges associated with personalization.
"The majority of marketers were “very confident” (47.5%) or “somewhat confident” (47.1%) in their brand’s ability to create personalized experiences for their customers, with targeted marketing and advertising campaigns was seen as the most effective personalization tactic to influence buyer behavior (30.3%).
“Ensuring the right personalized message reached the right audience” was reported to be the most common challenge associated with personalization tactics (25.7%).

22.2% of marketers report that ensuring content and messaging is relevant to each audience is a challenge when trying to reach current and prospective customers.
30.3% of marketers say that targeted marketing and advertising campaigns is the most effective form of personalization to influence buyer behavior.
20% of marketers say that ease and convenience is the most effective form of personalization to influence buyer behavior.
17.4% of marketers say that customized digital experiences are the most effective form of personalization to influence buyer behavior.
13.2% of marketers say that location-based marketing is the most effective form of personalization to influence buyer behavior.
13% of marketers say that product customization is the most effective form of personalization to influence buyer behavior.
6.2% of marketers say that packaging customization is the most effective form of personalization to influence buyer behavior.
47.5% of marketers feel very confident in their brand's ability to create personalized experiences and products that consumers enjoy.
47.1% of marketers feel somewhat confident in their brand's ability to create personalized experiences and products that consumers enjoy.
3.6% of marketers don't feel confident in their brand's ability to create personalized experiences and products that consumers enjoy.
56% of marketers are planning to personalize their marketing in 2018.
Only 7% of marketers report that getting actionable insights from data is the biggest challenge going into 2018.
56% of marketers report that personalization is the marketing trend they are most excited about exploring.
36% of marketers think that their marketing uses big data to unlock new brand experiences.

Mobile marketing statistics

68% of marketers plan to invest in mobile apps in 2018.
Only 35% of marketers reported taking a mobile-first approach to marketing campaigns in 2017.
Two-thirds of marketers report that they don’t take a mobile-first approach to marketing campaigns (2017).

Brand, creative & content marketing statistics

Marketers continue to look for ways to make their brand stand out because capturing customer attention requires creative work that is on-brand and engaging. The importance of content marketing, brand awareness and creative work that captivates has never been more important than now, as people are estimated to spend up to 10 hours a day looking at screens. The deluge of digital devices has created an enormous hunger for content - but marketers must create useful, entertaining and unique content in order to stand out from the digital crowd. In a world of digital sameness, brands must also think about how to adapt and evangelize their brand through more thoughtful (and more widely communicated) brand guidelines to increase brand awareness.

What’s next for content marketing, branding, and creative work? Let’s take a look back at the past few years for some ideas. These marketing statistics cover audience building, brand activism, brand awareness, brand consistency, brand differentiation, brand loyalty, brand strategy, social media, branded visual content, content marketing, creative automation, and experimental marketing.

Audience building statistics

72% of marketers are focused on building audiences as opposed to directly selling to consumers in 2017.
73% of marketers report that their brand marketing focuses on building audiences in 2017.
27% of marketers report that they disagree or don’t know if their brand marketing focuses on building audiences in 2017.
70% of marketers think that building audiences is more valuable than direct sales in 2017.

Brand activism statistics

36% of marketers are excited about exploring the trend of brand activism and cause advocacy in 2018.
79% of marketers report that social/cultural issues will play more of a role in their 2018 brand and marketing strategy.

9% of marketers report that social/cultural issues will play less of a role in their 2018 brand and marketing strategy.
12% of marketers report that they don't incorporate social/cultural issues in their brand and marketing strategies in 2018.

Brand awareness statistics

Marketers agree that “growing brand awareness” is the number one concern for their brand in 2020.
43% of marketers cite “growing brand awareness” as the number one concern for their brand in 2020.
39% of marketers think social still has the greatest impact on brand visibility and perception.
16% of marketers working in consumer brands believe that mobile apps are the most effective digital channels to engage their target audiences in 2019.
13% of marketers working in consumer brands believe that event marketing is the most effective digital channel to engage their target audiences in 2019.
13% of marketers working in consumer brands believe that online marketing is the most effective digital channel to engage their target audiences in 2019.
11% of marketers working in consumer brands believe that their company website is the most effective digital channel to engage their target audiences in 2019.
8% of marketers working in consumer brands believe that their email is the most effective digital channel to engage their target audiences in 2019.
6% of marketers working in consumer brands believe that their print and offline media are the most effective digital channels to engage their target audiences in 2019.
49% of marketers working in consumer brands feel “very confident” that their brand is well-heard in the online space in 2019.
59% of marketers working in consumer brands report that ad-free streaming is the biggest threat to digital brand engagement in 2019.
55% of marketers working in consumer brands report that ad-blockers are the biggest threat to digital brand engagement in 2019.
15.6% of marketers say that innovative campaigns are the most effective tactic for reaching consumers in a crowded digital landscape in 2019.

13.8% of marketers say that superior product is the most effective tactic for reaching consumers in a crowded digital landscape in 2019.
44.1% of marketers report that they are very confident in their brand's ability to be well-heard in the online and social media space in 2019.
48.9% of marketers report that they are somewhat confident in their brand's ability to be well-heard in the online and social media space in 2019.
6% of marketers report that they are not confident in their brand's ability to be well-heard in the online and social media space in 2019.
21.2% of marketers say that social media is the most effective channel for reaching their target audience in 2019.
17.6% of marketers say that online media is the most effective channel for reaching their target audience in 2019.
12% of marketers say that mobile apps are the most effective channel for reaching their target audience in 2019.
11.8% of marketers say that in-person and live events are the most effective channel for reaching their target audience in 2019.
9.2% of marketers say that email is the most effective channel for reaching their target audience in 2019.
28.3% of marketers report that finding the most relevant and targeted channels is a challenge when trying to reach current and prospective customers in 2019.
6.2% of marketers say that print and offline advertising are the most impactful ways to influence buying behavior in 2019.
18% of marketers cite brand awareness as their main marketing focus for 2018.
15% of marketers cite engagement as their main marketing focus for 2018.
21% of marketers said brand awareness was their main focus in 2017.

Brand consistency statistics

62% of marketing ops professionals report that ensuring content is consistent with brand identity is a huge hurdle to overcome in 2019.
14% of marketers report that ensuring all content is aligned with brand guidelines is the biggest challenge going into 2018.
10% of marketers report that ensuring brand safety is the biggest challenge going into 2018.
12% of marketers reported aligning content with brand guidelines as their organization's top marketing challenge in 2017.
20% of marketers report that brand consistency is the most important component of a successful brand in 2017.

Brand differentiation statistics

Marketers report that user experience is the strongest brand differentiator in 2020.

22.6% of marketers report that standing out from competitor content and messaging is a challenge when trying to reach current and prospective customers in 2019.

Brand loyalty statistics

26.5% of marketers report that securing loyalty is a challenge when trying to reach current and prospective customers in 2019.
30% of marketers working in marketing operations believe that securing brand loyalty and turning current customers into repeat customers was the biggest challenge for their company when trying to reach target audiences, followed by finding the most relevant and targeted channels for reaching their target audience (24%) in 2019.

Brand strategy statistics

8.2% of marketers say that storytelling and vision is the most effective tactic for reaching consumers in a crowded digital landscape in 2019.
14% of marketers report that storytelling is the most important component of a successful brand in 2017.
Only 3% of marketers report that company culture is the most important component of a successful brand in 2017.
Only 2% of marketers report that agility and speed is the most important component of a successful brand in 2017.
39% of marketers include audience polls or research studies in their brand strategy in 2017.
77% of marketers report including brand guidelines in their brand strategy in 2017.
87% of marketers report including their story and value proposition in their brand strategy in 2017.
94% of marketers include a brand vision and brand mission in their brand strategy in 2017.
67% of marketers reported have a documented brand strategy, while 21% had a verbal-only brand strategy in 2017.
45% of marketers update their brand strategy once a year.
35% of marketers update their brand strategy once every 2 years.
13% of marketers report NEVER updating their brand strategy. 😱
7% of marketers report updating their brand strategy every few months.
Almost 50% of marketing managers have a dynamic brand strategy.
Marketers report that digitally distributed brand strategies are 23% more effective than verbal-only.
80% of marketers report that their documented brand strategy is communicated and all employees understand within the marketing team.
6% of marketers report that their documented brand strategy is communicated but only managers within the marketing team understand.
12% of marketers report that their documented brand strategy is communicated but only relevant teams within marketing understand.

2% of marketers report that their documented brand strategy is communicated but only a few within the marketing team understand it.
51% of marketers report that their documented brand strategy is communicated and all employees in the entire organization understand.
28% of marketers report that their documented brand strategy is communicated but only managers within the overall organization understand.
8% report that their documented brand strategy is communicated but only a few within the wider organization understand.
50% report that their undocumented brand strategy is communicated and all employees understand within the marketing team.
1% report that their undocumented brand strategy is communicated but only managers within the marketing team understand.
28% report that their undocumented brand strategy is communicated but only relevant teams within marketing understand.
11% report that their undocumented brand strategy is communicated but only a few within the marketing team understand.
28% report that their undocumented brand strategy is communicated and all employees in the entire organization understand.
32% report that their undocumented brand strategy is communicated but only managers within the overall organization understand.
17% report that their undocumented brand strategy is communicated but only relevant teams within the overall organization understand.
23% report that their undocumented brand strategy is communicated but only a few within the wider organization understand.
100% of marketers plan to include brand vision and mission in their brand strategy.
100% of marketers plan to include their story and value proposition in their brand strategy.
83% of marketers plan to include brand guidelines in their brand strategy.

test

Branded visual content statistics

54% of marketers plan to invest more in branded visual content in 2020— continuing the upward trend from 2019 which also saw a year-on-year increase.
56.6% of tech brands will invest more in branded visual content than they did in 2019.
67% of B2C brands plan to invest more in branded visual content for 2019.
44% of marketers see increasing visibility and engagement with audiences as the main motivation for investing in branded visual content.
67% of B2C brands planned to invest more in branded visual content in 2019 compared to 2018.
Branded visual content seems to be a key driver for improving customer experiences in 2019, with 44% of respondents stating the main motivation for investment is to increase visibility and engagement with audiences, while 22% wanted branded visual content to help their brand stand out from the competition.

66% of marketing decision-makers will be investing more in creating branded visual content than they did in 2018. Why? To boost visibility and engagement with their target audiences (42%), and to stand out from the competition (22%).
66.5% of marketers plan to invest more in visual content than they did in 2018.
3.8% of marketers plan to invest less in branded visual content in 2019 than in 2018.
2.4% of marketers said they will not invest at all in branded visual content.
17.1% of marketers plan to invest in visual brand content because their audience prefers to interact with visual content.
11.7% of marketers plan to invest in visual brand content to enhance storytelling.
7.4% of marketers report that visual content just isn't a priority for them in 2019.

Content marketing statistics

17.8% of marketers say that content marketing is the most impactful way to influence buying behavior in 2019.
3% of marketers reported creating content for an international audience as their organization's top marketing challenge.
87% of our marketers claim that digital permeates most or all of their marketing activities.

Creative automation statistics

Enabling faster, more efficient content creation is seen as the most effective use of automation among marketers in 2020.
58% of marketers plan to increase their content production in 2020 by at least 25%, relative to 2019.
32% of marketers report that creating content more efficiently and faster is the best use of automation for marketing and branding purposes.
19% of marketers report that completing small tasks more efficiently is the best use of automation for marketing and branding purposes.
41.5% of marketers report they will invest in design templating in 2019.

Experimental marketing statistics

39% of marketers report experimenting with online campaigns.
43% of marketers report their department is an early-adopter of new channels and technologies.
33% of marketers agree that their marketing includes more experimentation to reduce risk.
24% of marketers disagree that their marketing includes more experimentation to reduce risk.
6% of marketers strongly agree that their marketing includes more experimentation to reduce risk.
4% of marketers strongly disagree that their marketing includes more experimentation to reduce risk.
30% of marketers agree their team is an early adopter of new channels and technologies.
27% of marketers disagree that their team is an early adopter of new channels and technologies.
13% of marketers strongly agree that their team is an early adopter of new channels and technologies.
9% of marketers strongly disagree that their team is an early adopter of new channels and technologies.

Social media marketing and PR statistics

25% of marketers in consumer brands believe that social media is the most effective digital channel to engage their target audiences.
65% of marketers in consumer brands report that social media algorithm changes are the biggest threats to digital brand engagement.
30.9% of marketers say that social media marketing is the most impactful way to influence buying behavior in 2019.
12.2% of marketers say that influencer marketing is the most impactful way to influence buying behavior in 2019.
3% of marketers cite share of voice as their main marketing focus for 2018.
Only 1% of marketers said share of voice was their main focus in 2017.

Marketing & martech industry statistics

Marketing is changing rapidly - emerging technologies, customer privacy and data regulation are just a few of the evolving areas shaping marketing and the martech industry today. In 2019, the martech industry landscape contained over seven thousand choices for consumers spanning a wide range of diverse (and sometimes overlapping) technologies to choose from. As brands adapt to changing consumer behaviors, we expect the martech industry landscape to continue to evolve with them. These marketing statistics cover future trends in marketing, the martech industry, and brand, as well as marketing budgets, investments, ROI, marketing hiring and talent, and security.

Future trends in marketing, the martech industry, and brand

42% of marketers report that influencer marketing is the marketing trend they are most excited about exploring.
23% of marketers report that content atomization is the marketing trend they are most excited about exploring.
12% of marketers report that dark social monitoring is the marketing trend they are most excited about exploring.
12% of marketers report that guerilla marketing is the marketing trend they are most excited about exploring.
Marketers report that AI will be the most disruptive force to affect marketing jobs in the next 5 years.

Marketing budget, investments, and ROI statistics

1/2 of marketing ops professionals plan to invest in digital asset management for branding/marketing purposes in 2019.
44% of marketing ops professionals plan to invest in artificial intelligence.
30% of marketing ops professionals plan to invest in chatbot technology.
17% of marketing operations professionals say that efficiency and resource-saving is the most popular reason for investing in new technologies.
14% of marketing operations professionals say that customer loyalty is the most popular reason for investing in new technologies.
14% of marketing operations professionals say that brand awareness is the most popular reason for investing in new technologies.
With the stakes so high in a rapidly evolving tech landscape, 93.8% of marketers felt that it was “very” (62.7%) or “somewhat” (31.1%) important for their company to invest in emerging technologies for 2019, with customer experience and engagement (40.5%) proving to be the number one motivation.
The majority of tech investments related to more established outlets such as the development of effective mobile applications (65.7%), progressive web applications (50.1%), and digital asset management software (46%), rather than more experimental technologies such as AI (45.1%), voice assistants (40%), and virtual reality (36%).
62.7% of marketers say that investments in emerging technologies in 2019 are very important.
31.3% of marketers say that investments in emerging technologies in 2019 are somewhat important.
2.2% of marketers say that investments in emerging technologies in 2019 are not important.
15% of marketers say that efficiency and resource-saving is their main motivation for investing in emerging tech.
13.6% of marketers say that customer loyalty is their main motivation for investing in emerging tech.
13% of marketers say that brand awareness is their main motivation for investing in emerging tech.
11.2% of marketers say that brand consistency and control is their main motivation for investing in emerging tech.
79% of marketing decision-makers will invest in influencer marketing this year.
79% of marketing decision-makers will invest in influencer marketing this year, with 43% planning to invest more, and 22% venturing into the market for the first time.
17% of marketers report that securing enough budget is the biggest challenge going into 2018.
9% of marketers report that proving the ROI of their marketing activities is the biggest challenge going into 2018.
37% of marketers report that securing enough budget is the biggest challenge when incorporating new tech into their brand strategy.
11% of marketers plan to invest in beacon technology in 2018.
25% of marketers plan to invest in chatbot technology in 2018.
40% of marketers plan to invest in voice assistant technology in 2018.
24% of marketers plan to invest in AR technology in 2018.
37% of marketers plan to invest in VR technology in 2018.
33% of marketers plan to invest in 360 video technology in 2018.
23% of marketers plan to invest in biometrics technology in 2018.
34% of marketers plan to invest in artificial intelligence technology in 2018.

68% of marketers plan to invest in mobile apps in 2018.
26% of marketers plan to invest in wearable apps in 2018.
20% of marketers report that brand development is their number one motivation for investing in emerging technologies.
17% of marketers report that brand awareness is their number one motivation for investing in emerging technologies.
38% of marketers report that customer engagement is their number one motivation for investing in emerging technologies.
15% of marketers report that customer loyalty is their number one motivation for investing in emerging technologies.
10% of marketers report that automation is their number one motivation for investing in emerging technologies.
43% of marketers plan to invest more in influencer marketing in 2018 than they did in 2017.
14% of marketers plan to invest less in influencer marketing in 2018 than they did in 2017.
22% of marketers did not invest in influencer marketing in 2017 but plan to do so in 2018.
14% of marketers report never investing in influencer marketing with no plans to do so in the future.
34% of marketers reported proving the ROI of marketing activities as their organization's top marketing challenge.
10% of marketers reported securing enough budget as their organization's top marketing challenge.
75% of marketers say that new customer acquisition is a key KPI in determining the success of brand marketing activities.
72% of marketers say that social media engagement is a key KPI in determining the success of brand marketing activities.
58% of marketers say that qualitative feedback from customers is a key KPI in determining the success of brand marketing activities.
51% of marketers say that subscriber/community growth is a key KPI in determining the success of brand marketing activities.
45% of marketers say that brand lift is a key KPI in determining the success of brand marketing activities.
39% of marketers say that earned media is a key KPI in determining the success of brand marketing activities.
37% of marketers say that customer renewal rate is a key KPI in determining the success of brand marketing activities.
34% of marketers say that purchase intent is a key KPI in determining the success of brand marketing activities.
18% of marketers stated that they could not prove an increase in customer renewal rate.
66% of marketers say that they can prove that brand marketing has increased audience growth, while 70% can prove that it has increased audience engagement.
26% of marketers strongly agree that brand marketing has increased their subscriber/community growth.
40% of marketers agree that brand marketing has increased their subscriber/community growth.
11% of marketers disagree that brand marketing has increased their subscriber/community growth.
3% of marketers strongly disagree that brand marketing has increased their subscriber/community growth.
20% of marketers responded that they were indifferent when asked if brand marketing has increased their subscriber/community growth.
In 2017, only 33% of marketers said they leverage data to create personalized and human interactions with consumers.

Marketing hiring and talent statistics

With customer experience being a top marketing priority in 2018, 53% of marketing managers will be hiring technical talent such as experience designers and developers.
34% of marketers will bring on data scientists to their teams, while 55% will hire more creative talent.
10% of marketers report that hiring top talent is the biggest challenge going into 2018.
53% of marketers report they will invest in technical talent (developers, UX designers, etc) in 2018.
55% of marketers report they will invest in creative talent (videographers, designers, copywriters, etc) in 2018.
34% of marketers report they will invest in data scientists in 2018.
7% of marketers reported finding top talent as their organization's top marketing challenge.

Security and marketing statistics

57.1% of marketers from a diverse range of industries say that security and regulation (i.e. GDPR, CCPA, etc) are preventing their branding/marketing from reaching its potential impact and audiences.