• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, August 25, 2015

As far as trends marketers see as having the biggest impact on them over the next few years, the Internet of Things is at the top of the list.

And the majority (80%) of marketing executives say they need to restructure marketing to better support the business and almost a third (29%) see the need for change as urgent, according to a new study.

The Rise of the Marketer study by the Economist Intelligence Unit comprised a survey of 500 chief marketing officers and senior marketing executives worldwide and included in-depth interviews with senior executives.

Just over half of marketers expect the Internet of Things, with ubiquitous, embedded devices constantly conveying real-time data, to revolutionize marketing by 2020. Along with this they see the power of real-time personalized mobile communication as one of the biggest trends.

Here are the trends that marketing executives see as having the biggest impact on marketers within five years:

• 51% -- Internet of Things
• 50% -- Real-time mobile personalized transactions
• 29% -- Wearable technology
• 26% -- Virtual/augmented reality
• 13% -- Privacy backlash

This study echoes another recent study that examined the impact of the IoT on customer engagement.

That study found that marketers at leading companies are looking to leverage new connections with customers, who expect highly personalized engagements, as I wrote about here recently (89% See IoT Impacting Customer Engagement  ‘Very Significantly’).

The customer experience is increasingly seen as a key to competitive advantage, with marketing taking the lead, according to the Economist study. A majority (75%) of marketers say they will be responsible for end-to-end experience over the customer’s lifetime within the next three to five years.

Marketing will increasingly be seen as less a cost and more as a source of revenue with about  80% of companies classifying the marketing function as a revenue driver, according to the report.

The top areas in which marketers say they need to develop skills are digital engagement and marketing operations/technology.

And that’s where the Internet of Things resides.