• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, May 30, 2023

B2B marketers are somewhat upbeat about the economy, and are adjusting their budgets accordingly. Most are also hopeful about AI, judging by State Of B2B Digital Marketing, a study released Tuesday by Wpromote and Ascend2.  

Of the companies polled, 70% plan to increase their marketing budgets this year, 19% significantly and 51% moderately. Another 14% will maintain their current level, and 11% foresee decreases, but only 2% expect significant cuts.  

The significant growth outpaces that of 2022, but is behind 2021. 

As for the economy, 24% are extremely positive and 43% are somewhat positive, while 28% are somewhat negative and 4% are extremely negative. A full 80% of the most positive marketers are focused on growth, while 62% of those with a negative view are prioritizing profitability. 

Social seems to dominate in terms of spending growth. Here are the channels receiving the increases:  

• Social Media — 56% 
• Paid Search — 40%
• Organic Search — 36% 
• Email — 40%
• Display Advertising — 41%
• Content Marketing — 49%
• Streaming TV (CTV, OTT) — 34%

Companies with excellent CX are most likely to invest: 

• Social media — 70% 
• Organic search—50% 
• Email — 50% 
• Display advertising — 57%
• Content marketing — 68%
• Streaming TV (CTV, OTT) — 49%

Social also seems to be most effective at driving revenue:

• Social Media — 60%
• Content marketing — 49% 
• Email — 45% 
• Display advertising — 36%
• Paid search — 32%
• Organic search — 23% 
• Streaming TV (CTV,  OTT) — 23% 

Of course, there are hurdles. Here are the top five marketing challenges in 2023:

• Improving customer experience — 41%
• Measuring and proving ROI — 40% 
• Delivering quality leads — 37%
• Producing quality content — 36% 
• Aligning marketing and sales — 36%

That said, 38% rate their digital marketing strategy as best in class. In addition, 22% reported a revenue increase of 20% or more in the last year. And 34% say they are delivering an excellent customer experience.  

Which tactics contribute most to achieving top-of-funnel goals? They are: 

• Social media — 50% 
• Email — 43% 
• In-person/live events — 34% 
• Video — 30% 
• Interactive content — 30%
• Influencer marketing—30% 
• Paid search — 28% 
• Site content, including blog — 26%
• Direct mail — 24%
• Virtual events — 23% 
• Account-based marketing (ABM) — 22%
• SEO — 19%
• Podcasts — 16%
• Converged TV — 11%

And in the bottom of the funnel? These tactics contribute most: 

• Social media — 46% 
• Email — 40% 
• Paid search — 30% 
• In-person/Live events — 30%
• Direct mail — 28%
• Video — 27%
• Interactive content — 26%
• Influencer marketing — 25% 
• Virtual events — 23% 
• Account-based marketing (ABM) — 22%
• Site content, including blog — 21%
• Podcasts — 18% 
• SEO — 17% 
• Converged TV — 14%

How do B2B marketers feel about AI? They are: 

• Terrified — 5%
• Excited — 26%
• Hopeful — 34% 
• Relieved — 7% 
• Apprehensive — 16% 
• Indifferent — 12% 

Moreover, they would consider investing in these AI areas over the next two years: 

• Personalizing the customer experience — 41% 
• Content generation — 40% 
• Automated customer interactions — 36%
• Customer service functions — 36%
• Building ad creative — 35% 
• Campaign automation — 32% 
• Programmatic advertising — 31%
• Predictive lead scoring — 30% 
• Campaign performance measurement — 27%
• Media mix modeling — 25% 
• Advanced audience segmentation — 21%  

Ascend2 and Wpromote surveyed 348 B2B marketers in U.S. businesses with 50 or more employees in April 2023.