In the face of economic uncertainty, most organizations are not planning to tamp down their marketing efforts in 2023, according to a new study from Mailjet by Sinch (Sinch AB (publ) – XSTO: SINCH). Of the more than 1,300 professionals surveyed (including marketers, IT professionals, app developers, support specialists and other decision-makers involved in email marketing), 62% expect to either maintain or increase their marketing spend in the coming year
Among marketers in the survey, nearly 60% chose email as one of the top three communication channels to deliver a high return on investment (ROI) during a recession. Email marketing was also the top choice among all respondents. Separately, 90% of all survey respondents say their investment in email will either increase or stay the same in the next 12 months.
Mailjet by Sinch conducted its global survey to provide insights into how economic downturns impact marketing and digital communications efforts. When asked which situations are most likely to negatively impact their organization in the next 12 months, more than half (56%) of respondents said inflation, while 41% said reduced consumer spending and 29% said energy and transportation costs.
Success, Results Matter
Survey respondents who called their recent digital communications strategies “successful” were more likely to expect continued investments in marketing. More than 72% of this cohort said marketing budgets would remain unchanged or increase. Conversely, companies with less recent digital communications success are more likely to expect cuts to their overall marketing budgets. Even without contextualizing why certain organizations’ marketing efforts were unsuccessful, these findings underscore the volatility of resource planning during economic instability: if marketing efforts are not driving satisfactory results, sometimes business decision makers are quicker to cut marketing budgets than advise marketing teams to adjust their strategy.
Additional takeaways from the report include:
- 42% of respondents cited traditional advertising, including broadcast and print ads, as the most likely to see cuts in 2023.
- While 41% of respondents see the value in digital advertising, 26% say digital ad spending could be cut in 2023.
- Boosting brand (cited by 43% of respondents) and improving customer loyalty (cited by 41% of respondents) are viewed as the greatest opportunities for digital communication during the economic downturn.
“As our findings show, a strong digital communication strategy can be the difference between customer gains and losses during times of economic uncertainty, ” said Will Conway, president at Sinch Email. “Rather than eliminating the channels that bring you closest to your customers, shifting your budgets to activate your customers’ preferred channels can maintain customer experience and loyalty during a downturn, giving your organization a competitive edge that can outlast market fluctuations.”
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