Planning and allocating your marketing budget used to be a relatively straightforward process. 在每一个年度或季度周期的开始, spending decisions were made based on the company’s most important business goals, whether that was to drive more revenue or increase customer acquisition.
一旦预算得到当权者的批准, marketing teams would have the green light to invest in the best techniques, 帮助他们实现这些目标的工具或合作伙伴.
但2020年绝不是一帆风顺的一年. Just as the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way consumers behave, it has also reshaped the way in which marketing budgets are being allocated and spent.
在我们系列的第一篇博客中 《十大网博靠谱平台》, we delve into the budgeting highs and lows that our 200 B2C marketers from big and small businesses have experienced during a year of thrifty marketing, and the early steps they are taking to mitigate unexpected challenges in 2021.
2020年初:维持营销预算现状
根据我们的营销人员, their early 2020 budget 分配s were mainly on par with previous years.
Smaller businesses with fewer than 100 employees were allocated an average annual budget of £45,984 - £603,996, whilst their counterparts in larger businesses (500+ employees) received between £603,996 - £2,865,605.
尽管超过一半的企业 (56%) 我们调查了他们每年的预算， 29% 这群人都觉得时间太长了.
另一方面 9% whose budgets are decided on a monthly cycle are the happiest with their budgeting timescale with 79% 他们对每月的敏捷性表示满意.
毫无疑问，这个月, agile set up enabled them to be amongst the first to quickly change their marketing tactics as soon as the pandemic started disrupting activities in March.
仅次于广告, 赛事占据了市场营销支出的最大份额, 让我们回到2020年初, 当会议, trade shows etc were still highly sought after opportunities to create and build brand awareness.
有趣的是, it appears that companies placed the same value on PR as they did Marketing Tech, 两个活动都收到 14% 今年的预算拨款.
The investment in tech is an encouraging stat because it shows that some marketers had the foresight to invest in more digitally focused marketing before they were forced to by the pandemic.
COVID对营销预算的影响
Our research reflects what industry bodies such as the IPA uncovered earlier this year - that marketing budget 减少s came swiftly after COVID-19 hit. 事实上，只有 26% of our marketers managed to avoid some kind of budget 减少 as a result of the pandemic.
事件中伤亡人数最多的是一个 16% 减少, meaning that they have fallen out of the top three most invested-in marketing activities for 2020.
这有很多原因, 但最明显的是，尽管有一些明显的例外, remote events are yet to recreate the same atmosphere or bring in the same volume of prospective customers that real life events used to - therefore not worth the investment.
但营销技术，匹配后 14% 年初的公关投资, 似乎在向我们的营销人员证明它的价值, 得到最低的预算削减 9%.
再一次。, an encouraging nod to respondents’ awareness of a need to ring fence digital tech spend to make data, 以及对它的巧妙利用, 未来数字营销活动的基础.
2021年:节俭的数字营销时代?
尽管大流行削减了开支, our marketers don’t seem to have a burning desire to reinvent the marketing wheel. 广告仍然是领头的，有一个保守的 1% 增加到 36% 分配.
然而, events marketing’s loss will be Marketing Tech’s gain as marketers plan to allocate an average 15% 预算的一部分. This means it has also overtaken traditional PR as our marketers’ most favoured strategy for next year.
那么，是什么让营销技术在大流行后如此吸引人呢? 简单来说，广告是要花钱的. 一个电视, radio or online creative campaign may bring in new customers, but this has to be activated at scale to truly make an impact or reach these new prospects.
It’s a costly approach that may not pay dividends at a time when most businesses are battling simply to keep their current customers.
This is why a new breed of thrifty digital marketers appears to be enamoured with the data-led marketing that’s enabled by marketing technology - it is one of the most cost effective ways to both retain and acquire customers.
从客户行为洞察收集, 有利可图的客户档案创建相似的目标, 营销技术使您能够最有效地实施, 基于数据的客户保留策略, often at a fraction of the cost of a full scale advertising campaign.
节俭的营销人员也知道，在不确定的时期, 现有客户是你最宝贵的资产.
This is why you need to invest in the right technology to understand them in the first place, and then use your insights to create effective strategies that will help you to retain their custom and loyalty.
结论
随着英国营销人员竞相完成2021年的计划, 许多人的目标可能与去年相似, 但可用于实现这些目标的预算却大大减少.
There will also be more scrutiny of marketing spend as different departments compete to demonstrate their value within the business.
The key will be to include digital elements in your 2021 marketing budget plan that will enable you to adapt to the still changing environment - where vaccines give us hope for business recovery.
To find out how our 200 marketers are planning to do this, follow our exclusive 英国市场营销预算信息图表系列，以便从我们的研究中获得更深入的见解.
