Worldwide martech hits $121.5bn

International accountancy and business advisory firm BDO and ad and media effectiveness firm Warc, have produced ‘Martech: 2020 and beyond’ found that the majority of marketers globally expect martech budgets to stay the same over the next 12 months, with 43% expecting an increase and only 4% expecting budgets to decrease.

This is the third report on this area, based on an annual survey of more than 750 brands and agencies in the Americas, UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific to assess the marketing technology industry which includes automation software, analytics tools and AI.

On average, brands in North America and the UK are spending 26% of their budgets on martech compared with 23% last year. While North America has doubled its martech spend over the past two years, spend in the UK, a more mature market, has remained steady.

Most respondents use martech for established disciplines – more than three quarters of brands use martech to assist them with email and social media, and more than a third for content, CRM and analytics.

Globally, 68% of brands and 83% of agencies have seen an increased need for data skills associated with using marketing technology. Creativity was selected by 49% of brands as a priority over strategy and data, of which 21% considered it to be a top priority. However, only 25% of agency respondents thought creativity should be the focus – they prioritised strategy and data.

Amy Rodgers, managing editor, research & rankings, Warc, said: "Despite spend on marketing technology increasing, budgets remain a constraining factor to growth for 50% of brands. The wealth of technology available presents a myriad of choices for marketers, who must decide where to place budget; a decision that carries risk when it comes to nascent technologies. This perception of risk is reflected by 29% of respondents selecting a lack of understanding of the technology available.”