Key marketing budget and b2b marketing insights

• Digital marketing is key growth area with 68% of businesses planning on increasing their digital spend
• 79% of these companies will increase the spend on digital marketing by 10%
• Digital activities account for 36% of marketing budgets
• Shortage of digital marketing staff is preventing organisations from harnessing digital
• Mobile is at a tipping point
• For B2B marketers – trader shows/conferences, print advertising and telemarketing are top 3 activities. Search marketing is the first digital activity and is 4th
• The top digital activities are search marketing, website, and then email
• Search marketing and webcasts are the most engaging forms of B2B marketing
• Online Forums are being neglected but could offer valuable engagement with buyers

Key Forrester recommendations

1. Do less campaigning, more marketing – Free up time for new emerging technologies
2. Double marketing content output – Produce long-format content for specific sectors and locations
3. Increase labour allocations in social budgets – Recruit journalists and writers to develop your social presence
4. Focus on budget returns – Squeeze more out of conservative budgets through lead nurturing, customer data management, asset management and faster reporting
5. Invest in customer relationships – Develop customer advocacy for your firm through work of mouth marketing

Full Forrester report

Full eConsultancy report