Our 2019 Marketing Insight research explores what decision makers really think of digitalisation

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be discussing the key takeaways of our primary research into operational decision makers and their experiences with digitalisation.

But why investigate digitalisation? And why now? The answer is all around us. Here’s a rundown of the state of the digital industrial landscape and why we chose to study how digital change is affecting a key business audience.

WHERE WE’RE AT

Industry analysts and forecasters couldn’t be clearer: the fourth Industrial Revolution is finally happening. Ten years after Cisco declared the internet of things (IoT) a reality, we are moving towards their prediction of 50 billion connected things in use by 2020.(1)

Forecasts suggest that the industrial IoT will generate twice the revenue of consumer IoT applications over the coming years. Bain estimates it will bring in revenue of $300bn, a 145% increase on today’s estimated market value.(2)

Predictions as to the wider transformative impact of industrial digitalisation range from a 20% uplift in productivity, to a rapid acceleration of service revenues, to a multi-trillion-dollar contribution to global GDP.

It’s clear that embracing digitalisation is no longer optional, especially when 89% of decision makers already have direct experience in digital project delivery.

WHAT WE DID

In light of the rapid acceleration of the market, we decided to commission our own primary research into the impact of digitalisation on a key audience: operational decision makers. Our aim was to gain additional insight into the key trends and motivations that affect behaviours and drive purchases in 2019/20.

The survey’s findings were surprising. The good news for marketers is that operational decision makers are hungry for information and actively looking for collaborative partnerships.

Next week, we’ll be taking a deep dive into who decision makers are and why they’re key to your success.