DIGITAL BUDGETS INCREASING, MEASURING ROI DECREASING

Spring is upon us, even though the blustery 30 degree weather and scattered snow days tell us that winter is hanging on desperately.  Despite the odd weather patterns, the season calls for a fresh start for marketing budgets and strategies. A February report by Econsultancy sponsored by Responsys gives us the details on where marketing departments stand with budgets, choosing digital or traditional channels, and ability to measure ROI on various marketing tactics.

Perhaps the most surprising finding to us was that overall, marketing budgets are expected to increase across the board.  Even in a down economy, proactive companies are investing in their marketing efforts so that when the economy bounces back, business will springboard.

Both digital and traditional marketing budgets are increasing, but over 71% of companies report that they expect to increase their digital budgets.  Only 20% of companies are looking to spend more money and resources on traditional marketing venues.  Curiously, as investment in digital budgets increases, client-side marketers are saying that their ability to measure digital ROI is decreasing (down to 50% from 55% in 2012).

The most common digital investments include mobile marketing, social media, and video advertising.  Coincidentally, these are also by all accounts the hardest marketing tactics to measure ROI.

This contradiction shows us that the ability to measure ROI isn’t stopping any marketers from testing new digital media frontiers.  It also means, however, that they are sticking to tried and true marketing efforts with results they can measure.  This holds particularly true for traditional media,  especially as the study found that marketers answered that their ability to measure offline ROI increased from 44% in 2012 to 47% in 2013.

The biggest takeaway from this 2013 survey reaffirms everything that marketing gurus and organizations have been preaching for the past few years: there is no single approach that is the most effective.  The best bet, however, is to explore and test a multi-channel approach for your company.

B&B can help you investigate a solution to integrate your digital and print communications with our variable data printing and landing page capabilities.  Call 804-794-8273 for more information!

By +Maggie Young