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- Marketing Budgets Hit New Low
Marketing Budgets Hit New Low
🚀 Master RSAs: Key Strategies Unveiled
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MARKETING BUDGETS
📉 Gartner Survey: Marketing Budgets Drop to 7.7% of Revenue in 2024
Insights from Gartner
Marketing budgets have decreased to 7.7% of overall company revenue in 2024, down from 9.1% in 2023, according to Gartner's survey of 395 CMOs and marketing leaders. The annual survey included respondents from North America, Northern and Western Europe across 10 industries, with median annual revenue over $5.3 billion.
The Scoop:
Budget Decline and Historical Context:
Marketing budgets averaged 11% of overall revenue pre-pandemic but have since dropped to 8.2%. In 2024, they further declined to 7.7%.
Ewan McIntyre, VP Analyst at Gartner, highlighted that CMOs are operating in an "era of less" and facing significant financial challenges.
Spending Shifts:
While paid media investments rose to 27.9% of the budget in 2024, there were cuts in martech, labor, and agency spending.
Digital media spending increased to 57.1% of budgets, up from 54.9% in 2023. Key digital channels include search (13.6%), social advertising (12.2%), and digital display advertising (10.7%).
Offline channels like event marketing (17.1%), sponsorship (16.4%), and TV (16%) also saw substantial investment.
AI as a Strategic Tool:
Despite budget constraints, 64% of CMOs believe AI can enhance marketing's impact. AI is viewed as a crucial tool for boosting productivity and efficiency.
GenAI investments are recognized for delivering time and cost efficiencies, with over a third of CMOs citing these as key benefits.
There's a discrepancy between channel investment and perceived impact. For example, digital video/streaming is ranked as the most impactful digital channel but ranks fourth in terms of budget allocation.
Gartner’s survey underscores the need for CMOs to adapt to reduced budgets by leveraging AI and prioritizing investments that demonstrate clear impact. The full report and additional insights are available to Gartner clients through their complimentary webinar and report.
TOGETHER WITH CHARGEFLOW
In 2024, it's impossible to avoid Chargebacks - the eCommerce industry suffers from a yearly revenue loss of $31B through them.
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Why 5,000+ brands love using Chargeflow:
Chargeflow has direct integration with the most popular payment processors such as Stripe, Shopify Payments, PayPal, and more.
Chargeflow is the first automated chargeback service, utilizing AI & big data to create the world's most robust Chargeback evidence.
Chargeflow was founded by two DTC brand owners who experienced the pain of Chargeback management firsthand and decided to build the best solution for e-commerce merchants.
SEARCH ADS
🚨 Elevate Your D2C Responsive Search Ads with These 4 Key Strategies
Insights from Search Engine Land
Responsive search ads (RSAs) are essential tools for direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketers. Here's how to optimize your RSAs effectively:
The Scoop:
Prioritize Quality Over Quantity: Despite the capability to use up to 15 headlines and four descriptions, more isn't always better. Opt fora high-quality, impactful copy that highlights your key unique selling points (USPs), ensuring they're not overshadowed by excessive content. This approach is particularly beneficial for smaller campaigns, allowing for more precise targeting and clearer insights.
Utilize Keyword Insertion: Enhance ad relevance and your quality score by incorporating the search term that triggered your ad. This dynamic approach makes your ads appear tailor-made for the user's query, boosting engagement. However, use this strategy judiciously to maintain ad coherence and avoid potential issues with competitor keywords.
Implement Countdown Insertion: Introduce a sense of urgency with a countdown timer in your RSAs, ideal for promotions or sales events. These customizable timers can indicate the exact time remaining on an offer, prompting quicker user actions and potentially increasing conversions.
Experiment with Ad Variations: Leverage the ad variations feature for A/B testing within your RSAs to determine which titles or descriptions perform best. For instance, compare the effectiveness of "Free Shipping" versus "Discounts on Orders Over $50." This can help refine your messaging to better meet consumer preferences and enhance ad performance.
By implementing these four strategies, D2C marketers can improve their RSAs' efficiency and ensure that their brand message remains compelling and clear, driving better engagement and conversion rates.
AI MODELS
💸 The Soaring Costs of Training AI Models
Insights from Stanford University
Academia and government are being edged out of the AI race due to the skyrocketing costs of training massive models. Google's Gemini Ultra required an estimated $191 million in computing power, and OpenAI's GPT-4 cost about $78 million. For comparison, the original Transformer model in 2017, which introduced the architecture behind most modern LLMs, cost approximately $900 to train.
QUICK SCOOP
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🤖 Meta joins the Frontier Model Forum (FMF), a non-profit AI safety collective for establishing industry standards and regulations for AI development.
🔍 Pew Research Center highlights 38% of webpages from 2013 are no longer accessible that is 23% of news pages 21% of government pages with broken links, and 54% of Wikipedia pages with dead references.
That’s all for today! While we curate another Viral Scoop for tomorrow, let us know how you felt about today! And share this with someone who’d love it.🥰