Not surprisingly, the foremost worry for marketers is reaching customers,  with 82% saying it is a major concern, according to a recent survey by Adobe.

The next most common worries are understanding whether campaigns are working  (79% of survey respondents) and proving campaign effectiveness (77%).

Demonstrating return on investment for marketing spend is the fourth biggest  concern (75% of respondents), followed by using digital tools effectively  (70%).

Below, additional key findings from the report, Digital Distress: What Keeps Marketers Up at Night?, which  was based on data from an online survey of 1,000 US marketers (263 digital  marketers and 754 generalists).

Digital Demands

• Only 48% of the digital marketers surveyed feel highly proficient in digital  marketing.
• Generalists are even less confident, with just 37% saying that they feel  highly proficient.
• Overall, only one in three marketers think their companies are highly  proficient in digital marketing, and only two out of five marketers think their  colleagues and peers are highly proficient.
• In particular, marketers feel ill equipped to tackle the digital challenges  of e-commerce, personalization, and measurement.

Marketing Proficiency and Change

• In general, marketers have low confidence in their organization’s marketing  performance. Only 40% think their company’s marketing is effective.
• Just 44% say their marketing departments have a great deal of influence over  their organization’s overall business strategy.
• 76% of marketers think marketing has changed more in the past two years than  the past 50.
• Marketers are mixed on what areas to focus on in the future—with social  media, personalization, digital advertising, and cross-channel marketing all  seen as rising in importance over the next three years.

ROI

• 83% of respondents said proving return on investment on marketing spends is  important.
• 79% say it will be even more important to prove ROI in the next 12  months.

About the research: The report was based on data from an online survey of 1,000  US marketers (436 decision makers, 499 staff members; 263 digital marketers, and  754 marketing generalists). The survey was conducted between August 26 and  September 11, 2013.
Ayaz Nanji is a digital strategy and content consultant. He  is also a research writer for MarketingProfs. His experience includes  working as a strategist and producer of digital content for Google/YouTube, the  Travel Channel, and AOL.