Global Marketers To Spend More On E-Mail And Social Media In 2014

E-mail and social media are among the top four mediums that global marketers plan to centre their strategies around in 2014, according to new study from digital marketing software expert ExactTarget Marketing Cloud.

E-mail marketing will be the area where 58% of the 2,500 marketing professionals polled plan to increase spending this year, while 57% will invest more in social media marketing, ExactTarget said in its report, titled 2014 State of Marketing. Only data & analytics and marketing automation will feature higher on industry professionals’ agendas this year, as a respective 61% and 60% of the sample said they consider increasing expenditure in these two areas.

In terms of priorities, taking measures to generate higher conversion rates topped the list, mentioned by 47% of respondents. Some 46% will focus on fostering brand awareness and 29% will treat collecting, measuring and using behaviour data as their primary marketing objective.

The report further highlights that marketers’ love for e-mail continues, with 68% of respondents confirming that e-mail marketing remains core to their business. Social media, at the same time, is considered key to the business for 46% of marketers.

Asked about their lifecycle marketing challenges, driving subscriber engagement and revenues emerged as the industry’s top goal, cited by 58% of the sample. Another 58% pointed to acquiring new subscribers and 45% cited building strong relationships with new subscribers. Around 42% will aim for attracting the attention of consumers who have lost interest in their brands.