According to Marketing Monitor, a new report by global insights consultancy TNS found that confidence was lowest in the countries with the most advanced media ecosystems, highest Internet penetration and the most complex and evolved digital lives.

Less than a third (29 per cent) of marketers in Singapore and Japan feel in control of their touch-point management.

The research shows that many marketers are choosing to connect with consumers via digital media. For example, more than half (60 per cent) of those surveyed are using search marketing, 50 per cent are using social-media marketing and 58 per cent are attempting to reach their audience through the creation of viral content.

In addition, more traditional forms of marketing are still very much in demand, with 54 per cent using public relations activity, 38 per cent employing the use of SMS (text-messaging) deals, and 26 per cent focusing on TV advertising.

 However, when asked how they select the touch points they use, the results showed that there was no consensus on how to adapt strategies to cater to these ever-increasing options. Almost one in three (32 per cent) are hedging their bets by spreading their budgets across as many touch points as possible, 38 per cent are focusing on the ones they know, and 30 per cent experimenting with new ones.

This demonstrates how many could be wasting resources on inefficient channels while trying to cover all bases, while others could be missing out on emerging touch points by sticking to what they know.

Nitin Nishandar, regional marketing director for brand and communications for TNS in the Asia-Pacific region, said: “Businesses are now focused on building a single view of the customer – tracking their audiences and their communications across every touch point, [and] flexing every platform to meet a wide range of consumer needs, from research to purchase to customer service.

“However, with new touch points entering the mix on a regular basis, large numbers of businesses are still seeking to identify the ones that deliver results most consistently.

“We know from TNS touch-point research across a number of categories that, on average, 20 per cent of the touch points used by a brand can have up to 80 per cent of the impact. It’s clear that brands need to be doing more to understand where to place their focus and budgets to get the most value.”

 Zoe Lawrence, digital director for Asia-Pacific at TNS, said: “Digital has been a big driver in the explosion of touch points that marketers are grapling with. And with consumers adopting an ever-increasing range of digital platforms, it’s a challenge for marketers to understand where to direct their efforts to avoid spreading their resources too thinly.

“It’s important to focus the majority of their efforts on the touch points that they know will deliver brand equity that converts to sales, but to balance this with some experimentation on the newer digital touch points where consumers are spending time.”