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Digital marketing spend increasing, says Gartner

Digital marketing budgets are expected to rise 9 percent in 2013. That growth is one reason why chief marketing officers are as popular as a prom queen among tech vendors.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

Digital marketing spending is roughly 2.5 percent of company revenue and budgets are expected to increase in the years ahead, according to a Gartner survey.

That spending growth is one reason that chief marketing officers are as popular as a prom queen among tech vendors. Companies ranging from IBM to Salesforce.com to Oracle are all pitching CMOs because that's where new revenue streams lie for them.

Overall, companies spend about 10.4 percent of annual revenue on marketing, but digital budgets are expected to grow 9 percent in 2013, said Gartner. The research firm calculates marketing spending based on salaries, advertising research, agencies and software as a service tools.

Gartner's survey was based on 250 marketers from companies with more than $500 million in revenue. Not surprisingly, Gartner is also pitching chief marketing types. Respondents to Gartner's survey noted that digital marketing accounts for anywhere from 10 percent to 50 percent of overall spending.

The big win for companies launching digital marketing efforts is lower spending on traditional advertising. Starbucks, which has doubled down on digital marketing, cited lower traditional advertising spending as a key return on its investment.

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