A new study by Walker Sands Communications has found that marketers are struggling to keep pace with ongoing advances in technology, as just 28% believe they can leverage its full potential in strategies and content campaigns.

The study, titled Maximizing the Value of Martech Innovations, takes an in-depth look at the role of tech in marketing and attempts to determine whether brands are keeping pace with the ever-quickening march of new innovations and changes. The major takeaway is that it continues to be a major challenge.

While tech is a source of frustration, marketers are not shying away from investment, as 65% said they will spend more on martech during the next 12 months, while only 5% expected their budgets in this area to contract during that time. Three in ten say their budgets will remain steady.

Content marketing continues to be one of the most popular tech outlets for brands as 48% said news, blogs, videos and other creative resources were at the core of their martech solutions. Email marketing was also popular, while CRM and analytics are quickly gaining ground.

Making better use of data to inform content decisions has been a key trend this year, so it is no surprise that marketers are turning to AI, automation and machine learning to improve strategies. There is less experimentation in email marketing, where best-of-breed solutions appear to be slightly less important.

The move to AI implementation has started, but it is not widespread just yet. Just 11% believe they are fully capable of leveraging AI and machine learning, but a similar number are part of the way there, with an additional 17% only just getting these digital-focused initiatives off the ground.

The Internet of Things (IoT) and the growing variety of connected devices have been more of a focus for marketers with 26% revealing they have implemented IoT effectively. All the tech links in some way to data, and this will continue to be an important area for brands moving forward.

Top marketers from a selection of the world’s biggest brands, including Coca-Cola and Lazada, recently met up to discuss the critical role that data is now playing in making smart decisions and the need to track and analyse metrics to support brand safety and a wider transparent media landscape.

Digital-savvy marketers are better placed to make use of data to power decisions, but many of those present admitted that there are additional hurdles that are preventing brands from maximising their return on investment. Relevant topics, such as ad fraud and viewability errors, were discussed.

Meanwhile, Fonterra’s director of creative and media, Graham Woodall, said brands that have yet to truly embrace digital transformation schemes may be able to use this hesitancy to their advantage, as they will be able to approach new tech in a better way.

He said: “We’re at quite an early stage when it comes to doing anything interesting with digital. I look at that as a real positive in a funny way. Yes, it is sad that we are years behind a lot of the other contemporary brands, but the good news is that you can actually look at what’s out there and decide what you want to be. I think that’s a real advantage.”