The annual Marketing In Manufacturing survey is back for a second year, revealing that 71% of manufacturers predict their marketing budget will increase or remain the same for 2022.
Prior to the full report being released in February 2022, we have taken an interim sample of the data to identify:
- how manufacturers feel about the results their marketing is generating
- which marketing activities are driving the most success
- where the largest investments will be made in the next 12 months.
Once again, sales, marketing and business leaders have been asked for their input to create a resource that will become invaluable to sales and marketing teams within manufacturing.
A whopping 71% of manufacturers believe their marketing budgets will either stay the same or increase for 2022. A positive, but still less than the 86% who predicted the same in last year’s interim report as manufacturers continue to balance between conserving cash and investing in growth initiatives.
Marketing is also a difficult subject of late with manufacturers struggling to recruit skilled talent while also battling with supply shortages. The struggle to satisfy current orders has been difficult, meaning manufacturers are hesitant to spend money on marketing to create more. Recruiting skilled people is also a marketing challenge within itself, with nearly half (45%) of manufacturers stating ‘not having the relevant skills or internal resource’ as a primary marketing challenge.
However, 37% of manufacturers feel confident that their marketing is meeting business objectives. A relatively low number, this is still growth on last year’s interim report that revealed only 16% of manufacturers were confident their marketing was meeting their business objectives.
When it comes to driving marketing success, manufacturers felt that organic social media, SEO and email marketing were the activities that drove the best results.
Surprisingly, the take up of marketing automation is still low in the manufacturing industry. Marketing automation software such as HubSpot has provided outstanding results for manufacturers all over the world. Results include:
Industrial firms are clearly missing a trick when it comes to marketing automation which could be costing them time, money and resource.
So, which initiatives and technologies will manufacturers be investing in over the next 12 months? How have marketing challenges changed in manufacturing and how will manufacturers split budget between digital and traditional marketing in the future?
Find out in the full Marketing In Manufacturing Report, due to be published in February 2022.
In the meantime…
We need manufacturing sales, marketing and business leaders, like you, to take part and have your say! Take part in The Marketing In Manufacturing Survey here. It takes 2 minutes and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 Amazon Voucher!
