52% of marketing executives in the United States and the United Kingdom say that one of the priorities of their companies is to retain their customers, according to a survey by Forbes Insights and Coremetrics. Other popular responses include customer acquisition with 38%, customer profitability with 29% and brand with 28%.
These four priorities for 2011 are expected to continue to be next year. However, the only priority that grows for executives and will become one of the highest in the next 12 months is Social Media Marketing.
As an example, online marketing will grow from 18% to 23% for next year, and social media strategy and tactics will rise from 11% to 19%, while mobile marketing will grow by 54%, jumping from 11 to 17%. However, for 41% of the executives surveyed, the top priority next year will undoubtedly be client retention.
To a greater extent, marketing budgets mirror these priorities. 39% of executives dedicate the largest proportion of their funds to customer retention; 36% is dedicated to attracting clients but the profitability of clients does not seem to be a fundamental priority, as only 19% said that it placed it in a high position of expenses.
Looking to next year, the dedication to retaining and acquiring customers will continue to be strong as more than half of respondents said that the intention is to increase spending on it, including profitability. Online tactics will also see a significant increase as 56% said they will increase their spending on online marketing, 54% will increase their spending on Social Media Marketing and 50% on mobile marketing.
Most executives also noticed more pressure than before. As an example, a combination of 78% agrees (29%) or agrees (49%) that there is greater control of what is or is not work, compared to the previous year, and many of them They see in an increasingly difficult online marketing environment. A combined 64% strongly agree or agree that it is more difficult than ever to cut noise online.
The survey also reports that executives are more likely to see the most innovative approaches to objectives (84%) and Social Media Marketing (68%) capabilities, which can help them create successful brands.