Email Tops Marketing Budget Priorities 3 Years Running

Nothing to See Here: Three years and counting, email marketing is coming in atop marketing budget priorities in the New Year. Find out what else wins part of the marketing budget.

Marketers plan to increase next year’s marketing budget for the same seven activities that received priority status the past three years.

Find out which marketing tactics got the lion’s share of the marketing budget and get 6 marketing ideas to help you use them to grow your business in the months to come.

When we took a closer look at the marketing tactics slated to receive a bigger share of marketing budgets in the New Year, we found that these same marketing tactics were also trending for 2012 and 2013. StrongView (formerly StrongMail) surveys reported on marketingcharts.com for the past three years reveal which tactics marketers planned to prioritize in their annual marketing budget:

A Closer Look at Next’s Year’s Marketing Budget Trends

In December 2011, marketers planned to prioritize budgets for 2012 with spending increases:

Email marketing – 60%
Social media marketing – 55%
Search (SEO/PPC) marketing 37%
Mobile marketing 37%
Trade show / event marketing – 18%
Direct mail marketing – 18%
Public relations (PR) – 16%

In December 2012, marketers planned to prioritize budgets for 2013 with spending increases:

Email marketing – 56%
Social media marketing – 52%
Mobile marketing – 43%
Search (SEO/PPC) marketing – 40%
Trade shows / event marketing – 17%
Direct mail marketing – 15%
Public relations (PR) – 14%

Most recently, in December 2013, marketers planned to prioritize budgets for 2014 with spending increases:

Email marketing – 52%
Social media marketing – 46%
Search (SEO/PPC) marketing – 41%
Mobile marketing – 32%
Trade show / event marketing – 21%
Direct mail marketing – 16%
Public relations (PR) – 13%

Source: Strongmail Survey Marketing Industry Trends Report

It is interesting that (with only one exception) these seven tactics were prioritized identically across all three years. Also of interest is that, while still ahead of the rest of the pack, email marketing and social media marketing have a smaller lead, and search marketing is making slow but steady increases in importance as it pertains to the marketing budget.

Finally, in the new year experts predict a small uptick in planned marketing spend on trade show marketing as well as a 10 point drop in the number of marketers who plan to spend more on mobile marketing.

As you evaluate and update your own marketing budget in light of your business goals for next year, here are six takeaways that can make your marketing more effective, regardless of which marketing channels you prioritize:

1. Make sure you can see the target clearly. Marketing without measurable goals or without identifying clear target markets is sure to result in lower return on your investments.

2. Set measurable goals, and measure your progress against them. Each of your marketing channels (and each marketing campaign) should have one or more measurable goals attached, along with a plan and timeline for follow up.

3. Get a better idea of who your ideal buyers are. Identify target markets and segment those markets by buyer types, and develop “ideal” client types or buyer personas based on shared characteristics of target market segments and your customer base, so that you can:

more readily determine the marketing channels most likely to reach them
deliver marketing messages based on the pain points most likely to motivate them to buy
move leads through the buying process more effectively and increase conversions

4. Be persistent. A lot of business marketing is ineffective simply because of lack of consistency. Buying is a process, not an event!

5. Focus on relationships, not sales. Keep your marketing focus on the solutions that your products or services provide to your customers. Tell the story of your business and why you are passionate about meeting client needs and wants. Maintain consistent branding.

6. Give people reasons to feel personally connected with the brand of your business. Infuse your marketing with the shared values that permeate your organizational culture. Tell customers about the greater good that your business does in the community, the local economy and its employees.