The American Marketing Association (AMA) has released the results of its 2016 Pain Points Survey, which found that a number of issues, including business growth, content marketing and data and analytics, are weighing heavily on marketers’ forecasts for the year ahead.

The survey, which includes the results of nearly 500 marketing professionals, found that while respondents identified a number of issues facing their companies and marketing teams, 66.6 percent listed themselves as somewhat or very confident that they are up to the challenge.

“When asked to select all of their most significant marketing challenges in the coming calendar year, survey participants—who were made up of both practitioners and academics—indicated that the three biggest pain points were content marketing (33.55 percent), data and analytics (33.97 percent), and business growth (33.33 percent),” says Sean Martin, founder and managing partner at Atlanta-based marketing research consultancy Brandiosity.

“These top pain points were not entirely surprising—I was struck, instead, by the fact that 10 distinct answers were cited by at least 25 percent of the study’s participants, indicating that marketing, as a function, is increasingly a hydra-headed challenge that requires Herculean prioritization.”

Lauren McCadney, director of digital engagement and social media at Vernon Hills, Illinois-based technology provider CDW, says marketers are least concerned about research, pricing/distribution, product development and innovation. “These are the very fundamentals of marketing—things that answer core questions: Who do we want to influence? What needs are not being met? Where are consumers spending their time? How do we connect with them in breakthrough yet relevant ways? Are they at the bottom of the pile because we have all this figured out? If we elevated these basic principles, which provide the insights required to craft meaningful strategies, what can we do about the tactical pieces of the puzzle to cause us less pain?”

Click here for more on the AMA’s findings and analysis.