Chief marketing officers are optimistic about the United States economy and expect budgets to increase significantly this year, according to a recent report from The CMO Survey.
The report was based on data from a survey conducted between January and February 2015 of 288 marketers at Fortune 1000 and Forbes Top 200 companies (84% of respondents hold VP-level or above positions).
Marketers expressed the most optimism about market conditions since the recession began in 2008, giving the US economy an average score of 70 (0=least optimistic; 100=most). This optimism about the economy is at similar levels for B2B and B2C marketers, as well as for product-focused and service-focused marketers.
Below, additional key findings from the report.
Budgets
Respondents expect marketing budgets to grow by 8.7% in the next year on average, the biggest increase since 2012.
Marketers expect spending on digital advertising to increase by 14.7%, whereas they anticipate the amount spent on traditional advertising to fall by 1.1%.
Spending on mobile advertising, which currently makes up 3.2% of marketing budgets on average, is expected to almost triple to a 9% share in the next three years.
Social Media
Respondents say they currently spend 10% of their budgets on average on social media.
Only 13% of marketers are able to prove the impact of social media quantitatively, even though 61% say they feel pressure from CEOs and boards to do so.
Social media remains poorly with integrated overall marketing strategies; respondents give their social integration efforts an average score of 3.9 out of 7.
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey conducted between January and February 2015 of 288 marketers at Fortune 1000 and Forbes Top 200 companies (84% of respondents hold VP-level or above positions).
