Two out of three (65%) of marketers expect improved trading conditions next year but aren't so upbeat about their budgets.
The Voice of the Marketer 2025, a new report by WARC, was released today based on a survey of more than 1,000 marketers worldwide.
A third (34%) of marketers, compared to 41% last year, expect marketing budgets to increase in 2025.
Escalating geopolitical conflicts and the implementation of trade policies threaten progress. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of marketers think economic conditions will significantly impact their marketing strategy in 2025.
However, more marketers seem to expect budget increases from last year to be maintained (44% compared to 39% last year), with those expecting lower budgets largely steady at 22% (compared to 20% last year).
Optimism on budgets is markedly lower among agencies: just over a quarter (28%) of agency survey respondents expect budgets to increase compared to nearly half (46%) of brands.
Some marketers will continue to prioritise long-term growth: one-third of marketers (35%) expect investment in brand marketing to increase in 2025, and one-third (38%) expect investments in performance to increase in 2025.
The impact of the environment and diversity, inclusion, and social justice on marketing strategies has decreased in recent years. Only 28% of survey respondents expect the environment and 20% expect DEI to significantly impact marketing strategies next year, versus 38% and 30% respectively last year.
Online video and social to drive future investments: 34% of marketers do not invest in TV and cinema, compared to only 5% for online video and social media.
Almost half of marketers (44%) highlighted media and audience fragmentation as one of the biggest causes for concern in 2025, an increase of 9 percentage pointsc from last year. Along with the challenges, there are more opportunities to experiment in reaching and engaging consumers.
Most marketers (93%) employ one or more measurement techniques, but the techniques vary. While more than two-thirds (67%) of marketers conduct brand health tracking, less than half (45%) use econometrics and marketing mixed modelling (MMM).
The percentage of marketers using experiments has doubled in the past year (18% in 2023 to 36% in 2024).
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