- bvik publishes new B2B marketing budget study 2024: Focus on stability and digital priorities
- Cost increases in all areas significantly reduce the scope for action
Augsburg, 11. September 2024 – The Federal Association of Industrial Communication eV (bvik) has published its “B2B Marketing Budget Study 2024”. The results of the annual survey provide important insights for marketing managers in an economically challenging time. The focus is on current trends, budget developments and strategic priorities for the coming years.
This year’s study delivers the following key findings:
Chart “Priority 1 topics in marketing 2024” – Source: bvik
Stability of marketing budgets
The average marketing budget and the number of employees in marketing have hardly changed at the companies surveyed compared to 2023. Trade fairs and customer events remain the central budget item, followed by investments in paid media – paid advertising.
Positive future expectations
Ramona Kaden, Managing Director – Source: bvik
Despite the existing uncertainties, most of the companies surveyed expect a budget increase or at least a maintenance of the current budgets for the next three years. „However, given the massive price increases in all areas and the great dynamism in marketing channels and tools, this ultimately means there is hardly any scope for expanding activities“, says Ramona Kaden, Managing Director of bvik. Lead generation New customer acquisition, website optimization and brand positioning are at the top of the priority list for 2024.
Trade fairs and customer events remain important
In addition to the undisputed top position of trade fairs and customer events in face-to-face format, the study shows a clear trend towards digital channels in the area of paid advertisingMore than half of the advertising budget goes into search engine advertising (e.g. Google Ads) and “paid social”, i.e. ads in social networks such as LinkedIn. But print ads are also still part of the advertising plan, accounting for 27% of the budget. More than half of the companies surveyed are planning to increase their paid media budget in the next three years.
Chart „Paid-Media-Budget 2024” – Quelle: bvik
In the current study, the bvik also examines overarching structural issues75% see marketing as an internal service provider, for example for the sales and HR departments. For 68% of respondents, the marketing departments are primarily responsible for brand and communication, both strategically and operationally.
Mood and orientation through benchmarks
Hannes Huttelmaier, Professor for Technical Sales at the Technical University of Würzburg-Schweinfurt – Source: Christine Barthelme, THWS
„Marketing should make a quick and sustainable, measurable contribution to corporate success“, says Professor Hannes Huttelmaier from the Technical University of Würzburg-Schweinfurt. „This is no easy task, especially in the current economically, geopolitically and technologically challenging times. A clear view of strategic priorities and intelligent resource allocation are crucial here..“ He emphasizes: „The bvik study has been supporting B2B marketing managers for years by providing an important picture of the mood, highlighting developments and providing benchmarks and orientation.“
About the study
The “B2B Marketing Budget Study 2024” provides impulses for budget planning in the industrystrategic agency development and the daily work of marketing professionals. This year’s study has been extensively revised to provide even more valid budget figures and more relevant analyses. The bvik invites trade and business journalists to gain an insight into the Management-Summary of the study in order to produce well-founded reporting and analyses.
Website: bvik Study | B2B Marketing Budgets 2024 Results
