AS activities begin to rev up on the integrated marketing communications space globally in 2023, recent study has shown that ensuring operational efficiency might be one of the focus areas for marketers in the new year.
For instance, the study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Emplifi, a unified customer experience platform, revealed that more than 80 percent of marketing leaders surveyed, prioritise operational efficiency, the benefit of recruiting skilled marketers and using agile technology, as their top near-term strategic objective.
The study, which contains insights from 154 North American CMOs, marketing VPs, and directors responsible for CX, marketing strategy, paid media, or social media marketing, also revealed that the macroeconomic pressures, and the need for an integrated platform to host customer data, have continued to challenge marketers to evolve and engage consumers with complex new social media channels and formats.
It also sheds light on how marketing leaders are growing their teams to overcome these obstacles while also outlining where they plan to invest to achieve their goal of increasing agility and efficiency.
Another key finding is the increasing popularity of digital marketing, as evident in the continued slash of traditional advertising budgets, in its favour.
It also predicted a down time for out-of-home advertising, such as billboards, with 37 percent of marketers planning to trim in this area over the next 12 months. Social media advertising and marketing, however, make up the smallest percentage of budget cuts at just 14 percent.
A notable revelation in the study is the noticeable investment expansion in social media marketing technology, with approximately three-quarters of respondents, prioritising social or digital advertising tools, while 66% are investing in social media marketing platforms.
Reacting to the study, Emplifi CMO, Zarnaz Arlia, noted that with customers becoming more budget-conscious, marketers will need to get even more creative with their campaigns to become the brand of choice for the modern consumer.
“Acquiring the right technology to facilitate collaboration and agility, and equipping teams with the right roles will be key as we head into the new year,” he stated.
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