Interestingly, the pressure to generate revenue isn’t a function of decreasing marketing budgets. Between 36% and 40% of brand marketer respondents said their budgets had “somewhat increased” over the prior 12 months, while about 25% said they had “somewhat decreased.”
Irrespective of whether budgets are up, down, or unchanged, “brand leaders repeatedly describe a ‘do more with less’ environment,” the study found. That’s especially true on the agency side, where only 25-26% are reaping the benefits of growing marketing budgets.
“Agencies feel the squeeze,” reads the report.
AI fears
Asked about how AI has affected their day-to-day jobs, 63% of respondents said it has already had a moderate or significant impact. But for CMOs and their teams, “it’s putting more demand to generate actual, measurable growth,” Sills said.
“Executive leaders believe in AI’s potential to increase productivity and cost efficiency,” he continued. “So the expectations for growth are [increasing] simply because of the perception of what AI can do.”
Even if AI is creating pressure, the executive suite assumes that its driving efficiencies, which in turn maneuvers marketing executives into justifying their investments in it.
“It’s easier to not be on the chopping block if you can say, ‘hey, I’m contributing to revenue. I’m doing something every day that is moving us as a company forward,’” Siegle explained.
Though revenue growth has become the focus amid the pressure to navigate disruption and economic uncertainty, its important to note the study’s findings don’t suggest that CMOs no longer see long-term brand building as part of their job.
“It’s something we’re seeing across most of our datapoints,” Sills said, “and it’s the number-one challenge most marketers have: How do I prove my financial impact?”
