23 Stats We Gained from Surveying Marketing Leaders [New Data]

A recent HubSpot Blog survey asked 1,067 global marketing professionals working in B2B and B2C companies about the top marketing trends they leverage, the strategies they use, and the challenges they face.

In this post, we’ll discuss the insight we gathered from director+ level marketers about their companies marketing strategies and what they will look like in 2022. Read on to learn:

• Trends Marketing Leaders are Following
• Marketing Strategies Marketing Leaders Use
• Challenges Marketing Leaders Face

Trends Marketing Leaders are Following

1. The top trends marketing leaders follow are short-form video, experiential marketing, and influencer marketing.

2. The trends marketing leaders follow that have the highest ROI are influencer marketing, short-form video content, and permanent social media content.

3. The trends marketing leaders companies invest the most in are short-form video content, inbound marketing, and social responsibility.

4. Marketing leaders say they’ll increase their investments in content marketing, social media marketing, and influencer marketing.

5. Influencer marketing is the most effective trend that director+ marketers companies leverage.

Marketing Strategies Marketing Leaders Use

1. The primary marketing strategies director+ level marketers say their companies use are social media marketing, content marketing, and co-marketing.

2. The most popular media formats in director+ level marketers’ content strategies are videos, infographics, and blogs.

3. The top platforms director+ level marketers companies post video content on are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

4. 48% of director level+ marketers say their primary goal when running marketing campaigns in 2022 is increasing brand awareness, followed by increasing engagement and increasing revenue.

5. 41% of director+ level marketers companies leverage social media, making it the top leveraged channel with the highest ROI.

6. 51% of director+ level marketers say their marketing budgets will increase in 2022.

7. The top leveraged social media marketing strategies are short-form video, influencer marketing, and engaging with audiences in comment threads. Short-form video is the most effective and has the highest ROI.

8. 82% of director + level marketers use automation in their marketing role, and the strategies they leverage are chatbots, content automation, and task management.

9. YouTube is the most popular social media platform leveraged by director+ level marketers companies, followed by Instagram and Facebook.

10. 83% of director+ level marketers personally use content marketing in their roles, making it the top leveraged channel. Social media and email marketing are the second and third most used.

11. Director level + marketers day the top email marketing strategy their companies leverage is mobile-friendly emails.

12. Director+ level marketers say the marketing roles that will take top priority in 2022 are Content Marketing Manager, Content Strategist, and Creative Assistant.

Challenges Marketing Leaders Face

1. Director+ level marketers say the biggest challenges they face on social media are creating engaging content (26%), reaching target audiences (25%), and tying social activities to business outcomes (25%).

2. Director + level marketers say the biggest challenges they face with content marketing are improving SEO performance, creating content that receives high levels of online engagement, and creating content that generates leads.

3. Staying up-to-date on search engine algorithm updates and building domain authority are the top challenges director level + marketers face with SEO.

4. The five biggest challenges director + level marketers face in their roles are training their teams, measuring the ROI of marketing activities, getting sales-marketing alignment, and growing a global audience.

5. Director+ level marketers say the biggest email marketing challenges are measuring ROI, increasing engagement, and emails getting sent to spam.

6. Ensuring a good candidate experience, finding candidates with the right skillset, and attracting diverse candidates are the top challenges director+ level marketers face with hiring candidates.