• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, December 22, 2014

According to the StrongView 2015 Marketing Trends Survey, in which global marketers voiced the importance of getting more out of their eMail efforts by leveraging data and automation to drive more relevant and engaging programs, 61% say email marketing remains the top target for increased investment in 2015, and 93% plan to maintain or increase investment in email for the 2014/2015 holiday shopping season.

The top channels targeted for increased investment remain email, social media and mobile. The survey results also point out the continued decline of print advertising, direct mail and radio in the overall marketing mix as connected devices and consumers lead to more reliance on digital channels.

While offline advertising budgets are in decline, says the report, email and other digital marketing channels continue to grow In terms of overall marketing budgets, 54% of brands will see an increase (vs. 46% in 2014), and a third of those will be increasing it by more than 10% over 2014.

Marketers noted that they are increasing efforts to improve context and relevancy through the application of myriad types of consumer data. They reported an increased emphasis on automating programs, with triggered (42%) and lifecycle (41%) being the top two types of email programs to receive increased investment. Among lifecycle email marketing programs, Loyalty (45%) and Welcome (36%) programs led in terms of attracting more investment.

Shawn Myers, vice president of marketing at StrongView, concludes that “… marketers consider email the fulcrum of their digital marketing campaigns… (they) are making inroads in using automation as well as greater use of channel and device engagement data to make their messages more contextual… the real opportunity will be for email marketers… to understand the current context of each customer at the moment of open, and dynamically deliver relevant messages accordingly… ”

Key Marketing Trends Survey Findings:

Top Three Programs For Which Marketers Plan To Increase Spend In 2015:

• Email – 61%
  • Social Media – 49%
  • Mobile Marketing – 40%

Top Three Programs For Which Marketers Plan To Decrease Spend:

• Print Advertising – 33%
• Direct Mail – 22%
• Radio/Television Advertising – 18%

Top Three Concerns For Marketers Heading Into 2015:

• Accessing and leveraging customer data from multiple channels and data sources – 30% 
• Coordination across marketing channels – 16%
• Developing more relevant engagements – 13%

Automated Programs Are At Top Of List For Increased Investment In 2015:

• Triggered/Transactional Programs – 42%
• Lifecycle Programs – 41%

Touch Points In The Lifecycle Where Marketers Are Focusing Spend In 2015:

• Loyalty – 45%
• Welcome – 36%
• Winback/Reengagement – 27%
• Post-Purchase – 27%

Marketers Struggle With Accessing And Leveraging New Forms Of Data, With Only Half Using Commonly Held Data In Their Campaigns.

• Demographic Data – 51%
  • Purchase History – 48

Marketers Still Unable To Leverage Other Important Data Such As:

• Web Behavior – 31%
• Sentiment _ 20%
• Life Stage – 19%

For additional information about StrongView’s 2015 Marketing Trends Survey, please visit here.