One More Time For the Dense Among You: Learn Digital

(MoneyWatch) 

An eMarketer report out today has some pretty grim news for any agency just now starting to get their online act together -- you may be about to get dumped. Looking at results from a July 2008 study by Zoomerang for Sapient, 45 percent of marketers surveyed said they were considering switching agencies to gain access to more digital knowledge and expertise. Almost eighty percent said that digital skills were important or very important when considering an agency.

The survey also contains the surprising data point that, at least among the agencies surveyed, a majority said digital marketing efforts were at least a quarter of the total output of their organization. eMarketer raises an eyebrow at the number, noting that within the US, digital ad spend, while skyrocketing compared to other mediums, is still less than ten percent of total dollars spent.

Still, looking at their projections for the next five years, it's not hard to draw the conclusion that any agency not boasting a well-staffed, well-funded, and well-marketed digital arm is in real danger of losing business. While digital-only agencies are still a comparative rarity, those agencies that have effectively managed to crossbreed their old media and new media branches should be those that can expect to see some pickups in the coming years, even if the economy remains tight.