Digital marketing spending by enterprises will increase in 2015, according to a survey of marketing executives by Gartner.
Gartner said half of the companies surveyed are planning an increase in 2015. The report did not say the percentage increase in spending. The research also did not say the quantum of spend by enterprises in digital marketing. Gartner says businesses with revenue of $5 billion or more reported 11 percent increase in digital marketing spend against 9.2 percent for those with revenue between $500 million and $1 billion.
46 percent is spending less than 9 percent of revenue, 24 percent spending between 9 percent and 13 percent of revenue, and 30 percent spending more than 13 percent of revenue.
The 50 percent of companies planning an increase report their average 2015 increase will be 10.4 percent. Of those, the ones that report outperforming competitors said their planned 2015 increase will be 13.6 percent.
The focus of marketers is to improve customer experience to drive business and profitable revenue growth. This means there is no change in the strategy of enterprises.
Companies are spending 10.2 percent of their annual 2014 revenue on overall marketing activities, with 50 percent of companies planning an increase in 2015.
Digital marketing spending averaged one-quarter of the marketing budget in 2014. The survey found that of the 51 percent of companies who plan to increase their digital marketing budget in 2015, the average increase will be 17 percent.
Gartner’s Digital Marketing Spending report covered 315 individuals located in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Respondents represent organizations with more than $500 million in annual revenue across six industries: financial services, high-tech, manufacturing, media, retail and transportation, and hospitality.
Jake Sorofman, research director at Gartner, said: “The survey also found that the highest marketing technology investment in 2014 is for customer experience. Customer experience is also considered by many companies to be the top innovation project, just edging out product innovation.”
68 percent said that their company had a separate digital marketing budget.
Expenditures for digital advertising will grow in 2015, as brands, ad agencies and publishers invest in ways to deliver more-relevant advertising to people.
editor@infotechlead.com
