AI and Digital Transformation Are Top Priorities for Marketers in 2018

Looking ahead to 2018, marketers have already carved out their top priorities heading into the new year, according to a new survey.

WARC recently surveyed more than 600 marketers from around the world to gauge their top priorities heading into 2018. The results showed that more than 50 percent of marketers are making artificial intelligence (AI) a priority in the yew year. In addition, about 24 percent of respondents claim that voice interfaces are a priority for 2018.

Respondents also appear to be focused on “digital transformation,” according to the survey. WARC defined this as the manipulation of data and improvements to the overall customer experience.

In 2018, the majority of agency marketers (59 percent) claimed that it will be essential to draw insights from “big data” for digital transformation purposes. This is followed by customer experience (58 percent) and data organization and management (45 percent).

B2B Marketers and Top Priorities for 2017

At the beginning of 2017, B2B marketers were asked what their top priorities were for the coming months. Delivering quality leads was far and away the main goal for them at the time, according to a report.

“The 2017 State of B2B Digital Marketing” from DemandWave found that delivering quality leads was the top priority for 48 percent of B2B marketers. This was followed by driving more leads (23 percent) and increasing marketing ROI (12 percent).

The majority of B2B marketers (25 percent) claimed that between 61 and 80 percent of their overall marketing budget goes toward online initiatives.