Asia Pacific Companies and Marketers Still Struggling with Digital Transformation.

According to recent reports, digital integration still remains a big challenge for businesses in the Asia Pacific region, with only 17% of companies experiencing full integration. This presents many challenges to local marketers who are trying to reach a fast growing audience. Digital marketing efforts are often not in sync with the needs of the target audience, and as such, many companies and marketers are finding it hard to adapt to this new reality.

Digital Transformation Still in Progress

In a study conducted by OgilvyRed on digital transformation, 63% of all marketing executives polled mentioned that their company was in the process of digital transformation. Out of this number, 13% said they had a solid plan in place and 7% said that they were doing absolutely nothing. This is alarming, especially when calculating the growing number of connected devices in the Asia-Pacific corridor. This leaves a huge audience largely unattended for that is likely to grow exponentially in the next coming years. Those who simply don’t have a plan in place will gradually get phased out if they can’t get in sync with the times.

Native Digital Marketing Agencies still Lacking

Another area of concern is the lack of proper local digital marketing agencies in the region. As a matter of fact, many in the region are still relying on NYC SEO agencies to reach their audience. The US and other western countries still have an edge in this area and are still better able to serve the growing demand.

However, there is still a demand for local marketing agencies that can speak their audience’s language and penetrate markets better. As demand grows and more businesses realize the benefits of digital marketing, the need for native digital marketing agencies will only increase. Many companies have stated that they are struggling to find integrated agencies that can show a depth of specialist expertise, which is one of the reasons many businesses still rely on foreign agencies or decide to do everything in-house, with questionable results. In some cases, digital transformation is clashing with the company’s IT challenges and budgets.

Local Companies still have Lofty Goals

However, more and more local companies are taking heed of the recent changes in technology and jumping on board. Most companies expected digital transformation to drives sales and give them a competitive advantage. However, many seem to ignore factors such as reduction of costs or supply chain improvements. This can be a cause for concern because digital transformation should not only focus on marketing but should also be closely tied to other factors such as operation goals.

What can We Expect?

While digital transformation is still lagging in the APEC corridor, more and more businesses are acknowledging the need to adapt their marketing efforts to meet new demands. However, there is still some work to be done in educating local businesses on the importance of digital integration in the supply chain and operational outcomes as a whole.

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