As businesses prepare for the new year, it’s important for marketers to lay out their goals and objectives. Determining the channels to use for lead generation is an essential practice, and StrongMail, a leading provider of email marketing and cross-channel solutions, announced the results of its “2013 Marketing Trends” report to guide professionals in the right direction.
Survey respondents identified email marketing, social media marketing and mobile outreach as popular channels that will see an increase in investment in 2013. Brands should already use these channels to increase brand exposure and boost website conversions, but if marketers have avoided certain avenues in the past, the new year is the time to experiment and create new campaigns.
According to the study, 89 percent of businesses plan to increase or maintain marketing spend in 2013. Fifty-six percent plan to increase email marketing, 52 percent social media, 43 percent mobile and 40 percent search marketing. Perhaps most interesting is how marketers indicate they’ll use channels like social media and email in combination to reach wider audiences. The data showed that 65 percent of marketers plan to integrate email marketing with social media, 52 percent will use email with mobile technology.
StrongMail also released figures on business objectives professionals hope to achieve through marketing campaigns. Fifty-percent will use email and other tactics to increase subscriber engagement, 48 percent want to improve segmentation and 33 percent will try to grow opt-in email lists. More, 46 percent of marketers plan to increase email marketing spend on efforts that foster social fan growth through networks like Facebook and Twitter.
The study shows that marketers increasingly want to incorporate social media into various outreach programs as a way to drive further engagement with fans and followers. Brands that find ways to create multi-channel experience stand to benefit in 2013.
