71% of Indian marketers’ budgets set to increase in 2022: DCMN report

Research commissioned by DCMN sheds light on changes within the marketing landscape after a tumultuous two years; managing large amounts of data and privacy headwinds top marketers’ challenges going into the new year

DCMN, the growth marketing partner for digital brands, has released The Growth Guide: Marketing Trends For 2022 - a new report looking at marketers’ goals, strategies and challenges going into 2022. The results point to a new period of growth for the industry: 66% of marketers surveyed expect their budgets to increase next year, with this figure rising to 71% for Indian marketers alone. This compares to 75% in France and 68% in the US.

The research, conducted by Censuswide on behalf of DCMN, surveyed 600 in-house marketers in the US, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany and India. The results offer an understanding of how the marketing landscape has changed after a tumultuous few years and how optimistic brands are heading into 2022.

Key findings show that: 

• It’s good news for marketing and advertising agencies, with the vast majority of Indian respondents - 93% - planning to increase their spending on agencies in the next 12 months.

• Aside from spending on agencies, budgets will go towards experimenting with new formats and advertising channels. Outside of digital advertising, the three channels Indian marketers plan to focus on and invest in the most are mobile advertising, podcasts and linear TV.

• The research also shows that 62% of Indian marketers are more focused on long-term branding efforts, versus 33% for performance-oriented goals. This is remarkably in-line with global figures, at 65% versus 31%. 

But the new year also comes with its own challenges. As advertising campaigns grow ever more complex, marketers in India are most concerned about managing and reconciling large amounts of data across channels. Keeping up with privacy regulations comes in second place, as policies targeting iOS and the future of cookies are set to dramatically reshape the marketing world — perhaps for good.  

“At DCMN, we wanted to take a closer look at where the marketing industry stands right now, and the impact of a disrupted 2020 and 2021. The results are impressive, and point to a marketing rebound in the coming year - both in India and in other countries around the world. Overall, we’re seeing that branding efforts remain top of mind for marketers. It’s also clear that brands still have huge faith in linear TV, with mobile advertising and TV set to be some of the most popular channels for marketers to invest in next year”, commented Bindu Balakrishnan, Country Head India at DCMN.