According to a new industry survey conducted by Selligent/StrongView, marketing budgets will rise in 2016, with 56% of companies increasing and 35% maintaining current levels. The number of companies increasing budgets has grown two percentage points over 2015 results. Email marketing budgets are top targets for increased investment as business leaders plan marketing budgets, priorities, and challenges for 2016. Brands will focus on engagement and integration with additional channels and data sources, says the report. The number of brands decreasing budgets increased from 6% in 2015 to 9% in 2016, says the report. Social media and display follows email marketing as the top channels attracting increased investment. Mobile slipped to fourth place compared to 2015 results. Marketing Spending Plans for 2016 (January 2016; 72% North America Respondents) Marketing SpendingMedia CategoryIncreasing SpendingDecreasing Spending Email marketing 59.7% 3.1% Social media 56.3 2.7 Online display 55.9 3.4 Mobile marketing 51.9 2.0 Search (SEO/PPC) 42.4 3.4 Public relations 27.8 4.4 Direct mail 26.8 11.5 Tradeshows/events 16.3 12.9 Print advertising 13.6 23.4 Radio/TV advertising 9.2 10.9 Source: StrongView/Selligent, January 2016 “Increasing subscriber engagement” was the most important marketing initiative for 2016 at 34%, says the report, with more than double the next response of “improving segmentation and targeting.” Marketers chose “improving data analysis to better understand customer context” as the third most important initiative. In reporting the top challenge for 2016, Brands’ ongoing struggle with data and channel integration was evident in “leveraging customer data from multiple channels and data sources.” 45% of marketers cited “social media channel growth” as their top email marketing initiative for investment in 2016 compared with only 34% in 2015, edging out more traditional promotional programs and triggered email programs. Integration with social media is by far the most popular channel integration initiative at 61% this year compared to 47% last year. Social media was chosen above web site integration (58%) and mobile integration (42%). In summary, key survey data includes: Marketing Budgets