Find out more marketing-confidence #marketingconfidence

2. We believe that marketing means more than communications. As customer and insight champions, experts in proposition development and architects of competitive advantage, we believe that marketers play an instrumental role in shaping an organisation’s future performance. With such a pivotal role in marshalling the ideas, intelligence and resource to fuel (or dampen) growth, the attitude, sentiment and outlook of this community should be considered an important future indicator. INTRODUCING THE MARKETING CONFIDENCE MONITOR. A quarterly benchmark of marketing sentiment, comprising a trackable index score as well as in-depth analysis of the issues underlying the numbers.

3. Marketers’ confidence in the year ahead improving slightly, weighed down by concerns over marketing budgets and economic growth.

4. Confidence in company prospects and performance improving slightly, marked by increasing targets, more ambition but lagging resources. • More than a third of marketers are showing greater confidence in business prospects over the coming year, compared with less than 25% who are feeling more pessimistic. • More than 40% of UK marketers expect their organisation to embrace more risk and ambition over the next 12 months • More than 50% of UK marketers expect their organisation’s financial and growth targets to increase in their next fiscal period, compared with just 17% expecting softer goals • However, 6 out of 10 of those marketers expecting increased company targets in the year ahead report that their marketing budgets will either remain static or be cut

5. Companies hungry for growth but marketing investment found lagging – marketers expected to do more with the same, or less. • 35% of marketers expect some level of reduction in marketing budgets in their next fiscal period. • Only 23% of UK marketers anticipate an increase in headcount over the next year. • Almost 70% of marketers say their business has become more measurement focused over the last 12 months, compared to only 4% who say this focus has reduced over the same period. • Of those marketers reporting an increased measurement focus, only one third anticipate reduction in marketing budgets in the year ahead

6. Marketers upbeat about job security and pay, but point to limited opportunities for progression and a tough external jobs market. • Almost half of UK marketers feel more confident about career prospects over the next 12 months and 60% see a low risk to their job security over the same period • 6 out of 10 UK marketers expect increases in their salary and compensation in the year ahead but only 25% see the potential for internal promotion or increased responsibility • Less than half of UK marketers predict an increase in marketing job opportunities over the next 12 months • More than 75% see greater competition for roles that do become available.

7. Marketers point to deterioration in economic conditions in the last 12 months, and uncertainty for the UK in the year to come. • Over 50% of marketers believe that conditions in the global economy have worsened in the last 12 months. • Approximately 40% of marketers believe that conditions in the UK economyhave worsened in the last 12 months. • Almost 40% of marketers express falling confidence in UK economic growth and performance over the coming 12 months, compared with just over 30% showing increased optimism.

8. Find out more www.marketing-confidence.com #marketingconfidence insight@cim.co.uk