Due to the last four years of economic and commercial pressure for top marketers in the UK, marketing leaders have opted for a ‘bullish’ attitude for the remainder of 2024, vowing to increase their digital budgets. This comes from recent research conducted by Search agency, NoBrainer.
Among the key growth areas marketing leaders aim to increase their spending include AI, SEO, websites, broadcasts, and podcasts.
Approximately 500 marketers in the UK were surveyed and in addition to the data from NoBrainer, further findings from Statista suggest that the Ecommerce market is on track to hit an estimated £100bn milestone in the UK for the first time in 2024. In addition, Ecommerce marketers are positioning themselves to capitalise on 2024 as the year they capture a larger slice of consumer spending.
Which areas will marketing leaders boost investment?
NoBrainer’s report suggested that leaders are set to increase spending across significant areas such as:
AI: 64% of leaders to increase spending by as much as 60%
Website: 64% of leaders to increase spending by as much as 60%
SEO: 62% of leaders to increase spending by as much as 60%
TV, Radio & Podcasts: 59% of leaders to increase spending by as much as 60%
Email Marketing: 58% to increase spending by as much as 60%
Content Marketing: 57% to increase spending by as much as 60%
Digital PR: 57% to increase spending by as much as 60%
Influencer Marketing: 56% of leaders to increase spending by as much as 60%
Organic Social: 56% of leaders to increase spending by as much as 60%
Paid Search: 55%of leaders to increase spending by as much as 60%
Although a significant amount of marketing decision-makers plan to boost their spending throughout 2024, 14% of leaders plan to scale back their spending throughout the year.
Amid four years marked by escalating costs, inflationary pressures, and constrained budgets, UK marketing leaders have faced continuous challenges in achieving growth.
However, according to the latest findings, there's great anticipation for a turnaround in 2024, with many adopting a more assertive stance regarding spending power.
The emphasis for marketing leaders remains on optimising spending, and channeling resources into well-devised marketing strategies that can unlock new audience segments, enhance revenue streams from existing clients, and build greater brand loyalty and advocacy.