While companies have cut back on marketing budgets due to COVID-19, 73% of CMOs expect the pandemic’s negative impact to be short lived, with a positive outlook for business performance in the 18-24 months, according to Gartner’s CMO Spend Survey 2020. In fact, CMOs report they expect to increase investments across major channels and resource areas in 2021. Gartner warns that this outlook may be overly optimistic.
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Gartner analyst Ewan McIntyre reveals the key findings from Gartner’s CMO Spend Survey 2020. #GartnerMKTG #CMO #marketing
“Marketers remain stoic in the face of adversity and are significantly out of step with other members of the C-suite,” said Ewan McIntyre, vice president analyst for Gartner for Marketers. “We are seeing a significant number of CEOs and CFOs building scenario plans that include a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we progress into the ‘recover’ and ‘renew’ phases of this pandemic, CFOs will turn their attention to profitability, and marketing has the dubious honor of topping the list of functions where finance will look to trim expenses even further.”
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While pre-COVID-19 marketing budgets remained flat year-over-year, making up 11% of overall company revenue, more than 44% of CMOs have experienced mid-year budget cuts as a result of the pandemic and 10.7% of those expect their budgets to face significant cuts of more than 15%.
“Therefore, CMOs should plan for future budgetary pressures now, rather than gamble on budgets bouncing back,” added Mr. McIntyre. “The brands that succeed in uncertain times are those that recognize the change around them and adjust to it, rather than wait for things to go back to normal. CMOs need to build a plan that sets out the costs that can be eliminated, the essential costs that must be shielded and the costs where greater efficiency and ROI can be delivered.”
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