When the economic outlook turns negative and spending needs to be cut back, marketing budgets have typically been the first stop. This has been despite the data. Analytics Partners recently published their study which shows that on average a brand that cuts back will lose nearly 15% of its market if a "similarly-sized competitor doubles its marketing investments" during an economic down cycle. This expands on similar reports from previous economic downturns.
But this time, it would seem companies are heeding the warnings. Marketing budgets rebounded in 2022 from pandemic lows, and they are expected to increase to their highest levels the next 12 months, according to Deloitte's CMO Survey. The report says marketers are focused on a few key areas for this increase in spend, including brand building, CRM, product launches, CX and new service introductions.
This list of priorities is encouraging, but marketers need to stand their ground on their strategic goals. In a moment like this, businesses will be looking for every efficiency, putting on the pressure to demonstrate ROI. Too often this means a focus on short-term performance metrics. But a short-term focus can be a barrier to the opportunities for long-term value in the coming economic headwinds.
We recently examined buying insights in our financial services communities that illustrates this well.
US bank technology spend is growing and will hit nearly $112B by 2026. Across our communities, 79% of financial institutions plan to increase tech spend in the next year. A tremendous opportunity, but tech marketers need to ensure they have the strategy to capitalize on it.
Financial institutions have multi-stage tech buying cycles that involve tech buying teams, not sole decision makers. Only an integrated strategy that acquires and nurtures prospects will work in these dynamics. One-off campaigns can successfully hit specific performance targets, like lead volume, but they will fall short of helping a business grow without the follow through of full funnel efforts.
Buying insights, like these, have learnings for all B2B marketers targeting financial services. When evaluating their strategy, messaging and metrics, B2B marketers should look at their alignment to customer buying cycles, stakeholder maps, and decision criteria with fresh eyes. It may require a change in mindset and in metrics. While that's not easy, those who do will be poised to achieve the nearly 40% increase in ROI that an integrated marketing strategy is shown to deliver.
Download our infographic highlighting many of these financial services buying insights.
Written by Fell Gray, SVP Brand and Marketing, Arizent.
