Seventy-one percent of local marketers have said they will increase their digital budgets this year by an average of 28%, up from 68% last year, with areas such as search engine optimisation (SEO) and email marketing garnering the most investment.
That is, according to data is from the fourth annual
global 'Marketing Budgets' report, conducted by Responsys and
Econsultancy.
It is based on a broader survey of more than 800
company and agency marketers, carried out in December 2012 and
January 2013. It looked at the levels of planned spending this year
across a range of marketing channels and investment in different
types of technology.
Seventy-one percent of those surveyed planned to increase their digital marketing budgets this year by an average of 28%. This was up from 68% last year. Of those looking to spend more, two thirds said search engine optimisation (SEO) and email marketing for engagement and retention would be areas of investment.
Others named were email marketing for acquisition (60%), lead generation (58%), video advertising (56%) and paid search (56%). Webinars and virtual events (54%) and affiliate marketing (49%) were also named.
Comparatively, only 20% planned to increase their traditional offline budgets by an average of 26%. This was however still an increase since last year, which was 16% of marketers by 24%.
Fifty-four percent of respondents also said they planned to boost their overall marketing budget by 23%, up from 45% last year with a similar increase.
However, half of respondents (49%) said managing a restricted budget was a challenge. Thirty-four percent cited company culture (was hamstringing their ability to do more) while 32% named lack of staff as another inhibitor.
In terms of technologies and channels marketers said they will employ this year, mobile apps and QR codes were at the top, with 47% and 45% of marketers planning to use them respectively. Mobile search marketing (39%), mobile-optimised emails (36%), mobile advertising (34%) and SMS (32%) were also high on wish lists.
Mobile coupons and near-field communications (NFC) were at the bottom of the list with respectively 15% and 8% of respondents planning to spend money on them this year.
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.
Have something to say? Send us your comments using the form below or contact the writer at amykellow@yaffa.com.au
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.