What Will the MarTech Budget and Spending Look Like in 2023 and Beyond?

Successful marketing involves a lot of fresh ideas. However, that means after every pitch an inevitable question arises: How much of the marketing budget will that cost?

That’s the thing - marketing isn’t just about thinking outside the box or being the most daring (although both are great assets). This is business, which means there are financial constrictions and marketers will always be looking to make cost-effective decisions for their organizations.

According to the State of MarTech 2022/2023 report, over 63% of CMOs project their MarTech budgets to inflate throughout 2023, up from 61% in 2021. The driving force behind this is the fact that innovative new technologies are constantly being introduced to the industry. At the top of most wishlists are emerging tools such as digital commerce platforms, customer data platforms and content management systems.

There are plenty of factors that affect the trajectory of MarTech spending. In this article, we’ll be looking at some of the key trends that will influence marketing technology in 2023 and beyond.

The economy

A study predicted that B2B MarTech spending will surpass $8.5 billion by 2024 and will outpace increases by B2C companies. The consistent growth in marketing tools and software is due to organizations looking for better technology for gathering and storing data while using the information to make and implement crucial business decisions.

The Metaverse

Everyone has probably heard of the Metaverse by now. It made waves across the industry when it launched in 2022 and despite slower-than-expected growth, has continued to cause a stir ever since. Businesses are already starting to consider how to make the most impact on this platform.

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are both gaining significant traction, Although, they’re still within an experimental stage, with only 13% of adults having used them while shopping. Snapchat, for example, has used AR to set itself apart from similar social platforms through campaigns involving the FIFA World Cup.

Generative AI

If you’ve not heard of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, you could be forgiven. However, it’s blown onto the scene in the last few months and although the platform itself is garnering all the attention, the tools underpinning it have picked up serious momentum in 2022.

The significance here is that marketers will be adopting these specific technologies to accelerate production in almost all aspects of the job. Consequently, user personalization will soar as these tools will be able to dynamically create content based on all kinds of inputs, from simple demographics to engagement histories. Generative AI isn’t just a trend in MarTech spending, but an emerging powerhouse across the entire tech industry.

Cloud data warehouses

Gone are the days when customer data platforms (CDPs) were the backbone of collecting and analyzing company data. Data warehouses are here to stay, allowing marketers to unify their data strategies and heavily support personalization by linking individual CDPs together with customer relationship management platforms and other vital processes.

Final thoughts

Despite a global economic slowdown through the latter half of 2022, MarTech shows no signs of fatigue and, in fact, continues to grow. As tech promises to keep evolving, marketers are looking for new ways to perform crucial tasks, with factors like integrations and data centralization high on the agenda.

To learn more about how to get the most value from your MarTech investments, listen to our interview with Kerry Dawes on The Strategic Marketing Show:

Listen to the episode via your preferred pocast platform:

• Spotify
• Audible
• Apple Podcasts
• Google Podcasts
• Amazon Music