• by Ray Schultz , April 14, 2021

Brands are ramping up to spend more on marketing in 2021, with a heavy emphasis on CRM systems, according to a study from Insightly, conducted by Zogby Analytics.  

Of the companies polled, 58% expect to spend more on marketing, and 22% to spend less. Another 20% expect to see no change.  

At the same time, 65% say they know more about their customers in 2021 than they did in 2020.

Insightly and Zogby surveyed 500 marketing decision makers across a range of industries, including IT services, finance & banking, healthcare, retail, consulting, construction, manufacturing, food & beverage, education.

Their most important business technology initiatives for 2021 are:

• Customer relationship management — 140
• Data management & reporting — 129
• Sales & marketing integration — 103
• Mobile business management tools — 53 
• Marketing automation — 51