A whopping 88% of respondents are poised to boost their investment in marketing technology (martech) over the next three years, revealed a recent survey conducted by Mirum India. This trend signals a growing recognition among businesses that leveraging cutting-edge technology will help achieve their marketing objectives, the report said.
Despite this bullish outlook, the survey also revealed that India has yet to catch up with global trends in martech spending. Two-thirds of the respondents reported allocating less than 15% of their marketing budgets to martech, compared to the global average of 25.4%. This apparent shortfall represents a massive opportunity for growth in the region, the report stated.
Of the respondents, 47% stated that their organisation “sometimes used” martech tools, while 36% said they were using such tools “extensively”. Around 10% said they “rarely used” martech tools and 7% said they’d “never used” any.
The report divided respondents into four broad categories — Martech Heroes (31%), who are extensive users of such tools and plan to increase their spending substantially in the next three years; Martech Stagnants (5%), who are extensive users of martech tools currently, but their spends will either decrease or not change in the next three years; Martech Explorers (57%), who sometimes, rarely or have never used martech tools, but will increase their spending substantially in the next three years; and Martech Laggards (7%), who sometimes, rarely or have never used martech tools, but will either decrease or not change their spending in the next three years.
The main driver for the adoption of martech tools was the ability to deliver and track ROI, the survey revealed. 74% of respondents cited effectiveness as the top driver for martech usage. Ease of tracking performance (67%) and efficiency of marketing activities (64%) followed next in terms of priority.
Meanwhile, sales improvement (40%) entered the list of the top 4 objectives of using martech in 2023. Lead generation (56%), customer engagement (45%), and brand building (40%) were others on the list.
Respondents to the survey include CEOs, CDOs, marketing heads, EVPs, and managers of various brands. Of these, CEOs tend to prefer long-term planning over short-term gains, the survey concluded. 77% of CEO respondents stated that brand building was the top business objective that martech could help drive.
The survey discovered that 7 out of 10 respondents’ organisations were either not aware of the age of the cookie coming to an end and the advent of Web3 or did not have plans to handle this change. Six out of 10 agreed that the advent of Web3 would require their organisations to rethink their MarTech strategies.
“The estimated size of the martech industry in India is expected to be anywhere between $35 bn and $50 bn by 2026. This is indeed a sizeable opportunity. Brands are finding martech solutions the best and most cost-effective way to deliver the correct brand message,” said Hareesh Tibrewala, joint CEO, Mirum India.
