5 reasons why marketers should be optimistic in 2024

For a lot of CMOs, 2023 is a year they’d like to forget. Layoffs, budget cuts and even existential crises made 2023 a relentless series of slaps, quarter after quarter. But there’s a light (data!) at the end of the tunnel. Here’s why you can, and should feel better about 2024.

Dentsu surveyed 600 CMOs in North America for its bi-annual CMO Navigator survey, and found several areas where marketers were more optimistic at the end of this year, compared to earlier in the year and the end of 2022.

1. Business results are back up

Despite the hardships of the past year, business results are trending upwards. 75 percent of CMOs say they are experiencing revenue growth in H2 2023, an 11 percent increase over H1 2023.? That’s no small feat, given the tough economy. We’re finally seeing some resilience as consumer confidence returns and revenue growth gives CMOs some room to breathe with brand building and innovation.

2. Budgets are on the rise:

Almost 80 percent of CMOs are expecting budget increases in H2 2023, a 13 percent increase over the number earlier in the year. From “do more with less” could we finally be entering a phase of “do more, with a ...little more?”

While this is good news, it’s worth pointing out that marketers have their credibility on the line with the extra budget. It’ll be squandered if they go back to the playing the same game, with the same metrics, getting the same results. Which is why the next point is so important…

3. Marketers are increasingly being assigned the right metrics

I strongly believe the reason marketers had such a tough time in 2023 was because they were being asked to deliver the wrong metrics. There was an overemphasis on delivering growth and revenue from marketers, when those metrics are the hardest to attribute to the marketing department.?

In 2024, there’s some correction happening with a decrease in marketers being held accountable for customer growth, and an increase in marketers being tasked with delivering on customer satisfaction/advocacy, innovation and brand health.

Not only is the marketing department better equipped to measure those metrics, they’re the exact right metrics to focus on for long-term growth. Short-term revenue growth is still something marketers can expect to be graded on (flat at 45 percent), but not at the expense of these key marketing objectives.?

4. A Seat at the transformation table:

I’ve written before about how CMOs have increasingly been shut out of the boardroom and are not regarded as transformation leaders anymore. Years of being stuck in advertising and promotional hamster wheels have led to CMOs being sidelined in favor of CIOs and CDOs to lead business transformation.?

Next year, it looks like things are changing with 34 percent of CMOs being tasked with delivering business transformation, a 6 percent increase over last year. Additionally, they’re being asked to lead disruptive innovation efforts and manage the customer experience.?

Part of this is a course correction where CEOs are realizing that business transformation doesn’t just mean “IT transformation” and part of it is marketer’s being better at adopting AI technology and practices. This makes them natural drivers of change and innovation at a company, and its another opportunity that shouldn’t be squandered.

5. Hiring is expected to increase

This stat comes from the Deloitte/Duke University/AMA CMO Survey, which found that the size of the average marketing organization increased 5.5 percent over the past year. This isn’t tremendously exciting, but it is better than the meager 3.4 percent growth most orgs were reporting earlier this year, giving us hope for a hiring rebound.?

You can expect a lot of AI-related job descriptions in the new year, but with the increased focus on brand and customer experience, I would expect to see an uptick in good-old fashioned creatives, content marketers, thought leadership writers and brand managers. Additionally marketers who can handle data will always be gold. In contrast, I predict agency type jobs such as advertising, SEO and lead gen will not be part of the demand, given their recent declining returns and improved automation tools.