Skip to main content

Why your Marketing Budget Allocation is Madness


eMarketer reports that the Web and its meritocracy for content publishing has put more power into the hands of consumers and business buyers. They can easily conduct their own product research, get advice and read reviews from peers, and share their own perspective.

According to a market study by marketing services company Alterian, this apparent transformation has led to increasing public skepticism and cynicism of many traditional marketing practices.

Rather than simply trusting experts or putting faith in brands, Internet users expect to do their own research and comparison shopping using many different "more trustworthy" sources.

Nearly every respondent to Alterian's survey did their own research and comparisons before a purchase at least sometimes, and 71 percent said they looked for as many information sources as possible to verify their findings.

Friends and family were most likely to be trusted for advice, while advertisements and other carefully crafted marketing messages from companies were deemed to be least trustworthy.

A recent market study from marketing agency Jack Morton supports the picture of shoppers putting together online and offline information sources rather than accepting what they are told by those with an obvious vested interest or other apparent bias.

The top three sources that influenced purchase decisions for U.S. Internet users were friends and family sought out for their opinion (53 percent), friends and family who offered their opinion (49 percent) and objective online research (49 percent).

Alterian advises marketers to recognize these empowered consumers as individuals. Traditional broadcast messages are wasted effort, but targeting Web users who feel in control of their own relationships with brands -- through trusted channels, such as social media -- could be much more effective.

For example, while just 16 percent of respondents overall thought companies were "genuinely interested in them," that proportion more than doubled among those involved in social media activities. This begs the question, why do most marketers continue to spend the majority of their budget on traditional advertising?

They say the definition of madness is doing the same thing, over and over, and hoping for a different result. So, how mad is your current marketing budget investment strategy?

Popular posts from this blog

Virtual Reality Market Set to Reach $100 Billion

Virtual Reality (VR) market growth is now finally coming to fruition. Thanks to current actions and market momentum, VR is approaching what can be considered critical mass. And, not a moment too soon. This growth momentum comes from new hardware and content releases, accelerating enterprise value recognition, and a significant metaverse wild card that could potentially lift adoption and usage. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, over 85 million VR Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) will be shipped in 2027 across consumer and enterprise segments, creating a $100 billion VR market that includes hardware, software, and services. Virtual Reality Market Development "Expectations have been high in VR for years, and even decades, without notable growth to show. That growth is finally coming over the next five years," said Eric Abbruzzese, research director at ABI Research . The barrier to entry is lower than ever, all while content performance and user experien

Human Resource Transformation Enabled by IT

Many senior executives are taking a proactive approach to digital business transformation in order to achieve their strategic goals. Delivering revenue growth and profitability is now imperative for every function, including Human Resources (HR). The top 3 priority HR technologies this year are skills management, learning experience platforms, and internal talent marketplaces, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "With a tumultuous global economy, HR technology leaders face a balancing act in 2023," said Sam Grinter, director at Gartner . "Leaders must anticipate greater levels of accountability and demand for measurable outcomes to justify new technology investments." HR Transformation Market Development Forty-four percent of HR leaders report driving better business outcomes is their number one strategic priority for HR technology transformation over the next three years. Growth in headcount and skills (26 percent) and cost optimization (17 p

How Savvy Pioneers Lead the Future of Work

Hybrid and fully remote work are inevitable in the Global Networked Economy where high-performance talent demands flexibility from employers. To enable these progressive work models, organizations are investing in a wide range of technologies to support more agile types of employment.  According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), leading organizations will spend nearly $1 billion on the Future of Work (FoW) in 2023 -- that's an increase of 18.8 percent over 2022. Future of Work Market Development "Work models continue to evolve, but 37 percent of decision-makers in a recent global survey note that Remote and Hybrid work models will be an embedded part of accepted work practices, supported by a continued shift to the cloud, increasingly instrumented and interconnected physical workplaces, and intelligent digital workspaces," said Holly Muscolino, group vice president at IDC . According to the IDC assessment, organizations must mak