Achieving market-beating growth in a volatile world

It is nearly impossible to predict what 2023 has in store for us, given the current state of economic, social, environmental, and political disruption.

However, despite this volatility, 72% of marketers we surveyed say they are optimistic about the year ahead. (The rest of the marketers feel “neutral.”)

Perhaps this optimism is driven by marketer’s confidence that they are proactively tackling the current economic situation. Specifically, they are sharpening their focus, doubling down on existing clients, increasing investment in Account-Based Marketing (ABM), and strengthening the partner ecosystem.

Not surprisingly, as many companies tighten budgets, marketing is also being asked to do more with less. Budget pressures are reflected in marketers’ top priorities for 2023:

1. Contending with marketing resource constraints
2. Measuring and communicating marketing's impact
3. Prioritizing and narrowing focus

Yet, there are bold marketers who are bucking the trend. Even in the midst of unpredictability, some companies continue to invest in growth. These 'growth investors' are increasing spend to grow and expand market share.

Our analysis revealed five different points of differentiation for growth investors:

1. Brand: Growth investors are investing in strengthening and building their brands; ESG will become even more important to this group in 2023.
2. ABM: ABM is not just the top priority for growth investors; each and every one of them will increase their ABM budgets.
3. Digital transformation: Data shows that growth investors are further along than other marketers in building digital resiliency and agility.
4. Marketing metrics: Marketers must do more than collect data; they need to connect the dots between marketing activities and business outcomes. Growth investors use data extensively to improve marketing.
5. Customer success: Customer success is vital for profitable growth, and overall 50% of marketers are increasing their customer success budgets this year. But that is low compared with the 80% of growth investors who are spending more in this area.

As always, there are areas where all marketers, whether growth investors or not, can improve. However, if your business goal is to achieve market-beating growth, it might make sense to make some strategic investments, even in times of budgetary constraints.

Read the full report here.