The future of digital marketing is integrated

August 12, 2010
by Robert Weatherhead

We have been saying it for a while now here at Latitude, but more recently additional sources have also backed up our belief that the future of the digital marketing sector is integration and collaboration across multiple digital channels. Clients are no longer content with operating the different channels in isolation and many are now beginning to see the benefits of collaborative campaigns.

A simple Google trends search will show the companies looking for isolated search marketing services is on the decline, whilst those looking for broader, digital marketing services are on the rise. The change over appears to have occurred at the start of 2009 in the heart of the recession, and could well have been driven by the cost savings of a single agency managing all channels. But the rise has continued as more clients see the benefits an integrated approach can bring.

This data is backed up by a recent Marketing Week survey in which 80% of respondents said that the digital marketing space was too fragmented, suggesting a real desire for digital agencies with true expertise in more than one area.

Whilst us digital marketers have been harping on about the benefits of an integrated approach for a number of years now it would appear that the market is starting to listen, and more client side marketers are starting to want a strategy that plays on the individual merits of each channel whilst ensuring they work together to achieve a common goal.