Most marketers expect their budgets to increase this year. Sixty-four percent say they anticipate budget increases, according to Nielsen’s 2023 Annual Marketing Report, a study released Tuesday.  

But will they know if they are getting what they’re paying for?

Only 54% are confident they can measure ROI across digital channels, although not necessarily for individual ones.  

For instance, 53% are extremely confident they can measure email ROI, and 34% are very confident.

Social media shades email, with 61% saying they are extremely confident and 32% saying they are very confident.

Effectiveness of digital spending by channel reveals similar results. Of the marketers polled, 50% find email extremely effective, while 31% say it is very successful and 27% say it is moderately effective.

Search ranks high here, with 57% rating the channel as extremely effective, while 35% say very and 21 moderately. And 57% see their video online/mobile investment as extremely productive. 

But there is one thing to keep in mind. “Traditionally, marketers have used products that tell them whether someone viewed or clicked a digital ad or content— either online or in an email,” the study states. 

But it adds: “This point-in-time approach is much different from traditional television measurement, which is more continuous in nature.”

In terms of spending, 24% are planning increases of 50% or more in social media — and foresee hikes of 50% and higher in online display, and 21% in online video. In contrast, 18% say the same about their OTT/CTV spend.  

Meanwhile, in North America, 60% of marketers plan to increase their spend on marketing technology over the next 12 months — four percentage points above the global average.  

At the same time, “84% of global marketers now include streaming channels in their media plans. 

“They also understand the importance of knowing who is engaging with the devices and channels that carry their advertising, as 71%, on average, acknowledge the importance of comparable measurement across channels,” the study states. The downside within the findings, however, is that marketers express relatively low confidence in channel effectiveness and their ability to measure ROI across channels.”

“On average, 62% of marketers globally use multiple measurement solutions to arrive at cross-media measurement, with 14% leveraging four to five.”

 

Slightly more than half of all marketers are confident in their measurement abilities, Nielsen reports.