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Have We Hit Peak Marketing?

Growth stage? Consolidation phase? Early days? Mature market?

It seems that the growth of marketing technology was – in fact – not overstated by the pundits, analysts and armchair quarterbacks a few years back Remember that whole, “CMOs will spend more on technology than CIOs by 2017” bit from Gartner? Startups of all shapes and sizes have grown and continue to be created in the MarTech space. Acquisitions are still (fairly) hot and heavy and consolidation seems to still be the major players’ gameplay to demonstrate growth to the marketplace. Look no further than the recent news from Gartner for Marketers and their 2018 – 2019 CMO Spend Survey.

A few key points that are worth noting:

Innovation is alive and growing. 16% of marketing budgets are for innovation, and it is expected to grow in the coming year.
Marketing is a priority investment… and this is coming from the C suite (not the marketers).
Marketing budgets are expected to increase this year, according to the Chief Marketing Officer.
Advertising is not dead. Over 20% of the marketing budget is spent on advertising. 2/3 of that budget is now digital (ever with the issues of transparency, trust and more).

It’s not all unicorns, lollipops and belly rubs.

For every strong data point (like the ones above), come challenges. CMOs still tend to be focused on vanity metrics (or metrics that are only relevant to the marketing department), they’re worried about where their ads are being published, personalization continues to be a top priority, but it’s (mostly) an unknown in relation to getting it properly deployed and capitalized. The list goes on.

Marketing technology (MarTech) is the biggest driver in marketing today:

“Marketing technology (martech) budgets continue their march forward with no signs of slowing. Up from 22% of the budget in 2017, technology now accounts for a whopping 29% of the total marketing expense budget, making martech the single largest area of investment when it comes to marketing resources and programs.”

Thinking about marketing in different ways. Thinking about marketing as “marketing.”

There are still (way) too many, “marketing is dead” articles, podcasts and books out in the market. They’re (mostly) wrong. Marketing isn’t dead. And this is beyond the reality that most of these pundits are confusing “marketing” for “advertising.” Here’s what is happening: advertising is taking on a less important roll in the marketing mix, while new technologies (that enable brands to be more cost effectively and meet their consumers where they are) grows exponentially. Some might read that as an over-simplification. I would push back. Marketing is facing a massive growth spurt (technology is pushing this forward). Social media is a mature market, and its cracks are staring to show. Technology, smart audio and artificial intelligence is changing the user experience, and making it that easier for brands and consumers to connect. There will be more consolidation and more uncertainty. That’s part of the fun and challenge of this business of marketing.

Want more?

Last week, I sat down with Adam Fraser from the EchoJunction Podcast to dig deep on the state of marketing, technology and where the industry is at.

There’s more perspective right here… let me know if you agree… or not…

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.