Although the use of marketing automation is increasingly widespread, most businesses say they still need to improve their capabilities in various key areas, according to recent research from Act-On and London Research.

The report was based on data from a survey conducted in the first quarter of 2019 among 501 marketers from around the world who work for either brands or agencies. Most respondents are B2B-focused.

Some 60% of marketers surveyed say they need to improve their ability to integrate marketing automation tools into their other systems, 59% say they need to improve how they use marketing automation to optimize campaigns, 56% say they need to improve their marketing automation execution, 56% say they need to improve their marketing automation strategy, and 53% say they need to improve how they use marketing automation analytics.

Marketers who work for brands say measuring ROI is the biggest challenge with marketing automation (49% cite it), whereas marketers who work for agencies say a lack of internal knowledge is the biggest challenge with marketing automation (56%).