79% of B2B Technology Companies Felt the Impact of the 2023 Economic Downturn; Marketing Teams Face Increased Pressure and High Expectations Based on Research Commissioned by 10Fold

Global study finds the majority of companies plan for larger marketing budgets and more aggressive KPIs in 2024

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--10Fold, a leading integrated communications agency, today announced the availability of a new report: Marketing in the Face of Uncertainty: Practical Budget Strategies for B2B Tech Companies in 2024. The report revealed that 79% of respondents experienced a moderate to severe impact to their revenue as a result of economic circumstances in 2023. The severity of this impact appeared to correlate with the size of the company. Only 33% of respondents from smaller organizations reported they were impacted, compared to 52% of respondents from larger organizations.

2023 was a tumultuous year, marked by a staggering 190% increase in inflation since 2020. Companies struggled to weather the challenges of buyers stagnated by increasing interest rates and economic uncertainty. To understand how B2B tech marketing leaders responded to the circumstances in 2023 and their plans for 2024, 10Fold commissioned a research study that included responses from 466 marketing decision-makers in B2B technology companies with annual revenues of $5 million or more across five geographies: USA, Canada, UK, France, and Germany. The results highlight shifting digital marketing investment strategies and funding expectations that will help these companies navigate safely past the economic downturn of the past year.

Key Findings:

• 75% of organizations received external funding in 2023 and 78% anticipate receiving external funding in 2024.
• Tangentially, 73% plan to increase their marketing budgets for 2024.
• 55% of businesses are adopting more ambitious key performance indicators (KPIs) to accompany increased budgets.

Growing Marketing Budgets and Dynamic Shifts in Lead Generation Channels Unveiled

Despite economic uncertainty, more than half of businesses (55%) increased their marketing budgets in 2023. Even more respondents, 73%, are planning to increase their marketing budgets in 2024. Of the companies that already increased their budgets in 2023, a vast majority (92%) are planning additional increases in marketing spending in 2024.

“For most B2B technology businesses, 2023 didn’t go as expected, and although many had the benefit of more budget and additional resources, marketing leaders were required to dynamically adapt to a much tougher business climate and even higher KPIs,” said Susan Thomas, CEO, 10Fold Communications. “The fact that so many companies met their goals is a testament to the ingenuity, creativity and determination that is embedded deeply within the fabric of the technology industry. As we look ahead to 2024, those same qualities will be required, and it’s not a surprise that those same respondents reported being equally prepared for what lies ahead with marketing plans to meet their goals.”

The 2024 marketing planning includes shifts in what the respondents planned to invest in for their preferred lead generation channels:

Channel vs Projected Channels
	1^st	2^nd	3^rd
2023	Marketing / Website Tools (46%)	Digital Ads (40%)	Website (33%)
2024	Digital Ads (51%)	Marketing / Website Tools (50%)	Website (48%)

Redefining Success through Ambitious KPIs and Adaptive Staffing Dynamics

With increased budgets come new, higher expectations. 55% of businesses reported adopting more ambitious KPIs in 2023, far surpassing the 21% that reported their KPIs remained unchanged and the 19% reported they were able to target more conservative KPIs.

To meet the more aggressive expectations of 2023, many organizations added resources. 46% reported increasing internal staff in 2023, while 47% turned to outside contractors and 33% indicated they needed a mix of internal staff hires and outside contractors. Notably, 90% of companies that employed both internal hiring and external contractors reported greater ease in meeting their KPIs.

To access the full report, please visit: Marketing in the Face of Uncertainty: Practical Budget Strategies for B2B Tech Companies in 2024

Research Methodology

This survey was conducted by Sapio Research on behalf of 10Fold, sampling 451 respondents from Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US with decision-making authority for communication and marketing. Per Sapio Research, sample variance (or the extent to which these findings are representative of the total population) is within 4.6% (or a 95.4% chance the data would be replicated using a different total sample). 15 additional responses were collected from the 10Fold Marketing Team, resulting in a total sample size of 466.

About 10Fold Communications

10Fold is a leading North American integrated communications agency designed to create thought leadership and build brand value for deep-technology companies. Among the top ten percent of all public relations agencies in the United States (IBIS Research, 2021), 10Fold has offices in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, and San Diego, California; Austin, Texas and Boston, Massachusetts.

Nearly 500 technology innovators in the application development, DevOps, big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, enterprise software, mobile, semiconductor, cloud, networking, health-tech, energy and Web3 industries have relied on 10Fold for integrated communications support. The agency is honored to have won more than 50 national awards. For more information, visit www.10fold.com and follow us on X and LinkedIn.