A new study has found that digital competency across various sectors and industries is surprisingly poor. The new Digital IQ Index showed that the majority of creative agency and media employees were practically digitally illiterate, especially in terms of web advertising.
The Index was based on a survey which included people whose job required the frequent use of digital technology. Among them, were for instance, were media staff, marketers and creative agency employees. According to the report, when things were brought down to online advertising, more than 90% of them were on the verge of being digitally illiterate. Results were even worse when it came to analytics and data, where 96% were unfamiliar with basic concepts and practices.
A little less disappointing was the case with content marketing and social media. Nevertheless, the digital competency in these two categories was again under 50%. With social media, it was estimated at barely 43%, despite its popularity among individuals and businesses. Content marketing digital literacy reaches just 37%.
In addition, researchers spotted a number of trends. The report advises that both emerging and older sectors need to pay more attention to their digital competency. For example, although web advertising made its first steps two decades ago, not many employees in this sectors are proficient in their job. This tendency is observed in a few main sectors, like media. Similar is the case with data and analytics which is a relatively new discipline. Even agencies and brand showed low digital IQ in this category.
The second trend captured the gap between digital and general teams. That, however, is not really surprising, since digital professional specialize in this field. General marketing and sales employees, on the other hand, had a more basic knowledge in the sphere. Nevertheless, the report explains that these basic skills are cannot sufficiently meet the digital tendency which has started to take a central place across all markets.
The only categories in which the index registered a slight improvement were content marketing and social media. Although the digital IQ here in most sectors is not particularly impressive, an increasing number of agency and brand teams are showing better understanding of the field. Moreover, in some cases, employees are proficient in both social media and content marketing. According to the study, that is mainly because companies are hiring or training one employee for both positions in an attempt to cut down their costs.
According to the report, these figures are even lower compared to those from 2012. In addition, it explains that companies willing to improve their digital IQ will be more likely to see growth in the upcoming years. However, those that do not recognize the need to improve their skill and knowledge, are doomed to fail.
