If your company is like ours, you’ve probably had your share of annual marketing planning meetings. You know what you need to do, but the how isn’t always clear—or it’s continually changing.
Our team at UpCity surveyed 600 respondents from small businesses across the United States and Canada to gather more insight on where they stand with their marketing strategies and how they feel about current digital marketing trends.
Two-thirds of businesses surveyed said they believe that their current digital marketing strategies are effective in achieving their 2022 goals. Which raises the question: Why is the remaining one-third lacking confidence in their digital marketing?
Well, the answer isn’t exactly black and white; it’s a combination of several reasons. As a marketer yourself, you might relate to the pains of constantly changing algorithms, the need for a bigger budget to keep up with ever-increasing digital demands, and of course the numerous challenges brought on by the pandemic.
It’s worth noting that defining marketing success can be subjective. Success can vary considerably from business to business, depending on its overarching goals. So, although our respondents may have improved their brand, achieved higher SEO rankings, or received more engagement on social media, for our survey we defined marketing success as directly related to market expansion.
What’s Hindering Businesses’ Faith in Their Marketing Strategies?
Most survey respondents reported that they believe their current marketing strategies work, so overall confidence is high. And though the remaining one-third may be only somewhat confident in their marketing approaches, the doubt comes from not hitting all of their goals.
Fully 59% of marketers said they feel they do not have the data they need to feel confident about which marketing campaigns are working, research published by the American Marketing Association has found. What’s more, 37% said one of their top issues is lead generation.
Increased sales may be a goal of marketing, but the marketing and sales departments aren’t always aligned, so it can be tough to measure success in dollars.