New research from customer relationship management (CRM) platform HubSpot has taken a closer look at the challenges facing marketers in Australia including macroeconomic hurdles, areas of focus, ways of working, and adapting strategies for local nuances.
The HubSpot research was conducted by YouGov wherein it conducted surveys with marketing leaders in Australia and Singapore to learn more about how APAC companies bring products and services to market.
The research found that 82 per cent of the marketing decision-makers surveyed identify economic uncertainties as a significant factor as to why their respective organisations not only reduced their own budgets but also those allocated for their teams and for their clients and buyers.
When looking at significantly reduced budgets (25 per cent or more), 52 per cent of marketers say their organisation’s budgets have been reduced while 45 per cent say the same for their team budget and 41 per cent for their client budget.
The research also noted that SMEs are the most affected by these challenges. Illustrating this point are the findings that marketers in larger businesses of 500 employees or more are more likely to be prioritising developing a new go-to-market strategy (41 per cent), delivering return on investment (34 per cent) and developing in-language content (37 per cent) than small businesses of 20-49 employees (28 per cent, 22 per cent and 24 per cent respectively). It is predicted that the gap between larger businesses and SMEs will only continue to grow wider as they simultaneously compete for talent and customers.
In addressing these challenges, 33 per cent identified new tools and tech as a way for them to improve their future operations as 29 per cent say they are currently facing the challenge of new and more complex business intelligence requirements, as well as new regulation and compliance responsibilities to adhere to (27 per cent).
Meanwhile, 33 per cent look toward diversifying their products and services to meet these demands as a marketing opportunity, as well as expansion into new industries or product lines (28 per cent).
