FRESH OFF THE PRESS

Not Another Stateof Marketing Report
Trends and data from over 3,400 global marketers plus
progressive strategies from our experts and partners.

2020

Contents
4

Content Marketing Strategy by Christina Perricone

11 Social Media Marketing Strategy by Crystal King
17 Digital Advertising Strategy by Josh Chang
22 Web Strategy by Debbie Farese
27 Search Engine Optimization Strategy by Matthew Howells-Barby
34 Reporting and Attribution Strategy by Bridget Zingale
39 Email Marketing Strategy by Cynthia Price
44 Conversational Marketing Strategy by Marwa Greaves
47 Market Research Strategy by Ellie Mirman
50 Additional Findings
55 Survey Demographics
64 Contributors

2Introduction

M

arketers, welcome to 2020. This year begins the next decade of our
profession. We can’t predict everything that will change in the next ten
years, but we can take a look at what’s happening today and use it tobetter understand the change that is ahead of us.
As we enter the next decade of marketing, only one thing is certain: more change iscoming. To help marketers everywhere get a head start this year, we surveyed over
3,400 marketers across the globe and sourced innovative strategies from experts at
HubSpot, Litmus, and Crayon. The resulting report is an in-depth look at the current
state of marketing.
It outlines our efforts to connect marketing to business growth. And it emphasizes ourcommitment to the entire customer experience across marketing, sales, and customer
support.
It’s a scary and exciting time for marketers everywhere. As you’re planning for the
future, questions are inevitable. This report is here to help you
answer them.
There are plenty of State of Marketing Reports out there,
but this isn’t one of them.

KIPP BODNAR

Chief Marketing Officer3

2020 Content
Marketing Strategy

W

CHRISTINA PERRICONE
Content Manager

hen your business invests in content marketing, you improve yourability to engage your buyer personas, convert more leads, boost
brand awareness, and connect with your audience. This leads me

to two questions for marketers: 1) Does your company already actively invest incontent marketing? 2) Will you continue — or begin — this worthwhile investment
in 2020? Content marketing can take on many forms. The key is to identify which
content marketing tactics are most effective so your business can use themto achieve your marketing goals. Let the data below help guide some of yourdecisions.
Check out my full article:
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing/content-marketing4What we learned

70%

Does your company actively
invest in content marketing?
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov-Dec 2019

70% of marketers are actively investingin content marketing

How important is content marketing to youroverall marketing strategy?
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Not at allimportant

Slightly
importantModerately
importantVeryimportant

Extremely
important

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

Roughly 60% of marketers stated Content Marketing is ‘very
important’ or ‘extremely important’ to their overall strategy

5What we learned
24.26%

YES

34.86%

Do you plan on increasing yourinvestment in content marketingin 2020?

NOT SURE

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 201940.88%
NO

However, only 24% of marketers plan on increasing
their investment in content marketing in 2020

How do you measure the success of your content
marketing strategy?
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Lead
Generation

Sales

Web Traffic

OnsiteEngagement

SocialEngagement

SEO
Success

Authority

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

The most common measurement of success for content
marketing is Total Sales
6

SEO and content marketing will continue to drive
visibility in 2020 but what good is being found ifcontent is not credible or compelling? To win thecontent marketing game, brands need to focus
more on optimized, personalized and influencer
activated content experiences.
LEE ODDEN

Chief Executive Officer

How many audience segments are you
creating content for?
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
1

2

3

4

5

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

Marketers are creating content for multiple audience segments.
Three audience segments being the most common

7What are the primary forms of media usedwithin your content strategy?
20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

Blogs

VideosInfographics

Case
Studies

eBooksWhite
PapersChecklists

Interviews

Other

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Video is the #1 form of media used in content strategy,
overtaking blogs and infographics

What channels are you creating content for?
30%

20%

10%

0%
YouTubeInstagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

Company
WebsiteOther

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

Facebook is the primary distribution channel for content
8What type of videos are you investing in?
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Customer
Case Studies

Product
Demos

Brand
Storytelling

Product
or Service
Promotion

SocialEngagement

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

Promotional Videos and Brand Storytelling are the mostcommon video types created by marketers“There is no one-size-fits-all marketing campaign,each country, region, and locality has unique needs,
terminology, and means of consuming information.
Establishing a global content marketing strategy isessential but it can be very challenging. For content
marketing campaigns to be truly global we needto adapt for regional needs and differences of eachmarket while still conveying the main message.”
CLARA LANDECY

Marketing Manager EMEA

9

What content marketing metrics are you tracking?
20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Conversions

WebsiteTraffic

Engagement
Time

Social MediaEngagement

Email
Engagement

Email
Subscribers

SearchRankings

Not Sure

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

The most common content marketing metrics tracked werewebsite traffic and social media engagement10

2020 Social Media
Marketing StrategyI

f social media trends from 2019 taught us anything, it’s that personalized
content is key for success. We also saw brands starting to listen more closely
to their audience. I only expect this to intensify in 2020 with the world moving

towards tighter data regulations and higher expectations from people for thecontent they consume. The world is numb to generic social media broadcasts.
On top of that, there are more social media channels than ever before, but themain three still lead the pack in regards to return on investment. The data below
tells us that marketers reported that Facebook provides the biggest return on
investment.
Check out my full article:
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing/social-media-trends

CRYSTAL KING

Principal Inbound Professor

11What we learned

Does your company actively invest in74%

social media marketing?

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov-Dec 201974% of global marketers continue to invest
in social media marketing

Which social media platforms does yourcompany invest in?
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Pinterest

Snapchat

YoutubeLinkedIn

TumblrOther

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter lead the pack as the most commonlyused social media platforms by marketers

12What we learned

Which social media channels does your company
see the most ROI from?
60%

40%

20%

0%
Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Pinterest

Snapchat

YoutubeLinkedIn

Tumblr

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Facebook remains the top social channel used by marketerswith the highest return on investment

Which Facebook feature is the most valuablefor hitting your marketing goals?
50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Facebook
Business Page

Facebook
GroupsFacebook
Messenger

Facebook
EventsFacebook
Advertising

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

18% of marketers are using Facebook Groups13

“ personality and set of values in order

Brands will need to develop their own
to be able to have meaningful one-onone interactions. That’s how they will
stand out in a world of noise and limited
attention. Small and authentic will
win over big and generic every time.
Want more specifics? Pay attention to
private groups, micro-influencers andsocial movements that are relevant toyour brand.

”

DIEGO SANTOS

Marketing Manager
EMEA

14

What we learned

How often does your business post on social media?
30%

20%

10%

0%

1-2 times
per week

3-4 times
per week

5-6 times
per week

7-9 times
per week

10-11 times
per week

12+ times
per week

Not sure

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

The most common publishing cadence on social media
is 3-4 times per week.

Across all social channels, what type of content have you
found most successful for engaging your social audience?
30%

20%

10%

0%
Text-based
posts

Video
posts

Photo/
imagery

Influencer
Posts

UserGenerated

Partnership
Posts

Other

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

Photo and imagery posts are the most content typeused to increase audience engagement
15What we learned

What are your company’s tactics for social media marketing?
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Sociallistening

Live
video

Directmessaging

Augmented
reality

Usergenerated

Hashtags

Other

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019Social listening is the #1 tactic used by marketers

16

JOSH CHANG
Manager, Acquisition Analytics

2020 Digital Advertising StrategyThere’s a lot that falls under digital advertising: design, targeting,
optimizations, analysis, and more. Organic content channels are flooded,
and paid advertising is an effective way to get your content to the topof people’s feeds (and their minds). But the variety and breadth of the topic canmake it hard to master and intimidating to test. If your company plans to invest indigital advertising, take the time to evaluate trends and analyze data from yourpast campaigns to figure out how you can most effectively invest your ad dollars.
Check out my full article:
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing/digital-advertising-trends

17What we learned

What percentage of your overall marketing budget are you
spending on paid advertising?
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
0%

<5%

5-15%

15-25%

25-50%>50%

Not Sure

HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

How important is paid advertising to youroverall marketing strategy?
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Not at allimportant

Slightly
importantModerately
importantVeryimportant

Extremely
important

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

68% of marketers stated that paid advertising is ‘very important’or ‘extremely important’ to their overall marketing strategy

18

Which paid channel is providing your company thehighest return on your investment?”
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

GooglePaid Search

Bing
Paid Search

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedInTwitter

YouTubeWe are unable
to measure the
ROI of our paid
advertising

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Facebook and Google Search advertisingprovide the highest return on investment“Rising ad prices, among other things, shoulddraw the attention of marketers to landing pageand conversion rate optimization. The new focus
requires marketers to understand the psychology
of users. In most cases, it is not bad usability that isthe blockade, but a lack of clarity and motivation.”
BEN HARMANUS

Principal Marketing
Manager EMEA

19

What is the primary goal of your paid advertising?
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Brand Awareness& ReachWeb Traffic& Engagement

Conversions

Sales

Not Sure

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

33% of marketers use advertising to increase brand awareness.
24% use advertising to impact direct sales

20

“Marketers need to start thinking of their leads
more like audiences, and that they are either
product-interested or content-interested. Tailor
your promotional strategy to ensure thataudiences are seeing ads most relevant tothem. Marketers may be tempted to target
audiences who have expressed interest only intheir content with a product ad, but be patient!”

BARB GAGNE

Director of Marketing

What optimization tactics are improving your performance?
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Audience
TargetAd Creative A/B

Landing Page
A/B

Ad Placement

Bid Strategy
Testing

Not Sure

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

Ad Placement and Audience Targeting are the top
optimization tactics used by advertisers
21

2020 Web Strategy

W

elcome to 2020. Our data tells us that 63% of marketers arelooking to make a website upgrade this year. Are you? The
discussion of web strategy can take many directions, fromcopywriting to conversion paths. When we consider website optimization andoverall web strategy, accessibility should be one of your main objectives in 2020and onward. Accessibility is a broad term, but there are a few main things I focus
on: a continuous monumental shift to mobile devices, transparency and disclosureof information, and properly interpreting user intent. In 2020, build your web
strategy around your audience’s needs first. Providing a great user experience
will allow you to more easily deliver your message and meet your business goals.
Check out the data below and start building a web strategy with your users in
mind.
Check out my full article:
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing/website-strategy

DEBBIE FARESE

Director of Global Web Strategy

22

What we learned

Is you company investing in a website

63%

upgrade in 2020?

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov-Dec 201963% of marketers are investing ina website upgrade this year

What channels does your company use formarketing your business. Check all that apply.
20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
WebsiteSocial MediaPaid
SocialEmailMarketing

EventsContent
MarketingSearch/Display ads

WhatsApp

Facebook

Customer

Other

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

A business website is the most used distribution channel for marketers23

“Websites have come a long way from serving
as digital business cards to being everything
but that. For marketers, 2020 will be all about
reducing complexity (even more) and creating
a concise and transparent user experience. In
the end, our goal must be to provide users
with the information they want, when
and where they need it. To achieve this,a compelling and straightforward design,adhering to accessibility standards andpersonalization are indispensable.

”

MARVIN HINTZE

Marketing Manager
DACH

24

Which tactics have you found most beneficial in improvingsite performance and ranking? (Select all that apply)
20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Mobileoptimized
site

Create &optmize

Improve
page load

Fixing site
errorsOptmizing
internal

Using
image alt

Leveraging
canonical

Install SSL

Fix broken
links

Not sure

None ofthe above

Source: HubSpot Research, NAM Survey, Jan - Feb 2019

To improve site performance, the number one technical SEO
tactic used by marketers is optimizing mobile performance“What if I told you that your marketing content was
excluding an audience of roughly 61 million people in
the United States? 1 in 4 people live with a disability in
the United States. Accessibility is an attribute, andinclusive design is a method.”

CHRISTINA MALLON

Accessibility Design Lead

25

What content management system18%

do you currently use?

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov-Dec 201918% of marketers choose Wordpress as
their website content management system

What optimization tactics are improving youradvertising performance?
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Audience
TargetAd Creative A/B

Landing Page
A/B

Ad Placement

Bid Strategy
Testing

Not Sure

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan 2020

17% of marketers use Landing Page A/B testing to
improve conversion rates

26

MATTHEW HOWELLS-BARBY
Sr. Director of Acquisition

I

2020 Search Engine
Optimization Strategy

n SEO, everything is anchored in user experience. And that experience hinges
on providing the information that a person searches for, in a way that searchengines can identify. That’s how search engines provide relevant information

to users. Search engines are getting better and better at understanding searchintent, which means they are providing more unique and granular search resultsthat better address the user’s specific ask. The content on your website needs toprovide a solution to a user’s problem, whether it’s a long-form article or a oneword answer. In the most recent HubSpot Research survey, 64% of marketers said
they actively invest in SEO. While I’d like to see that number increase significantly,
SEO is becoming more of a priority across all industries. When you’re forming
your SEO strategy, use the data and benchmarks below to help.
Check out my full article:
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing/seo-trends
2714.36%
NOT SURE

Does your company actively invest
time in search engine optimization?

22.07%
NO

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 201963.57%YES

About 64% of marketers actively invest time insearch engine optimization

How important is search engine optimization to
your overall marketing strategy?
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Not at allimportant

Slightly
importantModerately
importantVeryimportant

Extremely
important

Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

About 55% of marketers consider search engine optimization
either “very important” or “extremely important” to theiroverall marketing strategy28

Is your company investing in technicalSEO updates to your website?
60%

40%

20%

0%

Yes

No

Not Sure

Source: HubSpot Research, NAM Survey, Jan 2020

Over 52% of marketers are investing in technicalSEO updates to their website“Google’s search algorithms are trying to transcend
text to images, voice (podcasts), and videos. While
document-specific optimization techniques areimportant, don’t forget that text will always be thefoundation of search - so making sure text around theseassets are descriptive will help them rank well in search.”

KAROLINA BUJALSKA-EXNERInternational SEO Manager

29

What SEO tactics is your company currently using?
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

Strategic
Keywords

Optimize
Load Speed

Localization

Optimize for
MobileTopic
Clusters

Backlinking

Other

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Page speed optimization is the top tactic used to
improve search performance

How effective are your SEO tactics at helping
you achieve marketing goals?
50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Very
Effective

Somewhat
Effective

NeutralSomewhat
Non-Effective

Not
Effective

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Roughly 50% of marketers consider their SEO tactics to be “veryeffective” in helping them achieve marketing goals
30

“SEO is plagued by the difficulty of understanding,predicting, and measuring the impact of specificorganic search optimizations. In 2020, SEO reports
will more effectively tie initiatives to outcomes,
going beyond measuring “traditional” SEO KPI’s
like keyword rankings and traffic to showing theimpact of SEO on broader business goals.”
RYAN VANVALINSEO Team Lead

How do you measure the success of your SEO strategy?
20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

Keyword
Rankings

Organic
Traffic

Time
Spent onpage

BounceRate

ClickthroughRate (CTR)

DomainAuthority

Returning
visitors anddirect visitors

Other

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 201931

“Keep focusing on page speed. It matters for users and for bots and its not going away.
Googlebot on average does only 50-60 resource
fetches per page, so it’s probably worth it to
explore tactics like lazy loading creative resources
below the fold.”
JACKIE CHU
SEO Lead

Which of the following SEO tools do you currently use?
30%

20%

10%

0%

GoogleAnalytics

GoogleSearchConsoleKeywordPlanner

MozBarSEO Workers
Analysis Tool

WooRank

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Google Analytics is the top SEO tool used by marketers
32Are you currently trying to rank for
Google featured snippets?
60%

40%

20%

0%
Yes

No

HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

53% of marketers are actively trying to rank for
Google Featured Snippets

33

2020 Reporting &Attribution Strategy
BRIDGET ZINGALE

Director of Analytics

R

eporting and attribution have revolutionized marketing in every industry.
Marketing data allows businesses to make more informed decisions
about their audiences’ needs, challenges, and interests. For years,

demographic reporting has done wonders for marketers. Data points such as age,
ethnicity, gender, location, education, and employment have informed marketing
teams and heightened the impact of campaigns across the board. Unfortunately,
there’s only so much that demographic data can tell us about the people
searching for and purchasing our products and services. 2020 is the time to makedata more human. Learn more about what 3400 marketers are saying about
Attribution Reporting from our survey data below.

Check out my full article:
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing/reporting-and-attribution-trends

34

What we learned

52%

Does your company currently use
attribution reporting?

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov-Dec 201952% of marketers are currently using
attribution reporting

How confident are you, when making a budget
decision, that you are investing in initiatives that are
influencing revenue?
60%

40%

20%

0%
Very
Confident

Somewhat
Confiident

NeutralSomewhat
Non-Confident

Not Confident
At AllSource: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 201991% of marketers are ‘somewhat confident’ or ‘very confident’
that they’re investing in programs that influence revenue

35

“Data and privacy regulations like GDPR provide you with aunique opportunity to re-think your current KPIs and analytics
strategy – and to re-tune them so that you only collect user
data you can derive insights from. Marketing reports should
not focus on “how you did” but on “how you can do better”.
So understanding your users’ intentions to drive change andattributing profits to your marketing campaigns is what will
make you successful in 2020 and beyond.”

MARVIN HINTZE

Marketing Manager DACH36

Is your company reporting on how your marketing campaigns
directly influence revenue at your company?
100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

Yes

No

HubSpot Research, North America Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

However, it’s worth noting that just over 75% of marketers reported thatthey are reporting how campaigns are directly influencing revenue“It looks like our approach to analytics and reportingis going to shift from doing work in-platform at thecollection source (e.g. Google Analytics) and working
with it in a cloud-based platform to visualize andmanipulate at scale. Think dashboards built off ofdatabases pulling from web analytics, CRMs, media
sources, and more.”
JOCELYN CHEN

Analytics & StrategicPartnerships Lead

37

How important is it to your company tounderstand the ROI of your campaigns?
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Not at all
Important

Slightly
ImportantModerately
Important

Very
Important

Extremely
Important

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Only 35% of marketers said that understanding the ROI of theircampaigns is “Very Important” or “Extremely Important”

38

CYNTHIA PRICEVP of Marketing2020 Email Marketing StrategyEmail marketing is alive and kicking-and more effective than it’s ever been.
In a time where most marketers struggle to break through the noise andneed to fight for their audience’s attention, the overwhelming majority ofemail marketers saw email engagement from over the last 12 months. Consumers
continue to prefer connecting with brands via email, and email marketers areseeing their email ROI skyrocket. In the latest research from Litmus, we foundfor every $1 marketers spend on email marketing, they receive $42 in return. So
where should you focus your efforts this year? Integration, segmentation andexperimentation.
Check out my full article:
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing/email-marketing-trends

39What we learned

What email types are you investing in this year?
30%

20%

10%

0%

Behavioral

Account
Sign Ups

Promotional
Offers

Editorial

Not Sure

HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

Promotional Emails are the most common email typethat marketers are investing inHave you seen more engagement in youremail programs in the past 12 months?
80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Yes

No

Not sure

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Roughly 80% of marketers have seen an increase in email
engagement over the past 12 months
40

“Only the companies and brands that create humanconnection are going to succeed. This is extremely
true with email. You might get short term benefits
from very promotional content, but honest, human,and personalised content creates a following for thelong term.
HENNI ROINI

Marketing Manager EMEA

Quoting Forrester’s
Shar VonBoskirk:“Be Human.
Be Helpful.
Be Handy.”41

What are your company’s tactics for email marketing?
30%

20%

10%

0%

Messagepersonilization

Subscriber
segmentation

Mobilefriendly emails

Emailautomation
campaigns

Dynamic
content

Other

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2020

Message Personalization is the #1 tactic used byemail marketers to improve performance

On average how many emails do you
send to customers per week?
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

2-5

3-5

6-8

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 201935% of marketers are sending 3-5 emails per week to their customers.
The most common frequency among marketers42What tactics are proving to improve
email engagement?
30%

20%

10%

0%

Audience
segmentation

Email Design

Email Copy

Personalization

Email
Frequency

Not Sure

HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

Over 20% of marketers surveyed say that email design is improving
their email engagement

43

MARWA GREAVES

Director of Global Messaging

H2020 Conversational
Marketing Strategy

ow frequently do you visit websites that offer you the opportunity tointeract with a bot? I’m guessing your answer is “pretty frequently”
because, according to our recent State of Marketing Report, more than

45% of businesses today have implemented bots as part of their marketing efforts.
Today, consumers have choices when it comes to the ways they communicate
with businesses — live chat and bots are a new channel to get the support andanswers they need, on their time. There are a few things I’d recommend you keep
in mind while navigating your strategy in 2020 - experimentation, messaging, andpersonalization.
Check out my full article:

https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing/conversational-marketing44What we learned

45%

Does your company currently
use bots in marketing?
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 201945% of marketers are currently using bots on their website

Of those who answered no, does your company
plan on using bots in marketing in 2020?
16.49%

YES

36.27%NOT SURE

47.23%
NO

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Almost half of the marketers who answered “no” to theabove question do not plan on investing in bots this year

45

What tools does your company use for bots?
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

HubSpot

Drift

Intercom

LiveChatFreshChat

Olark

LiveAgent

Other

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

LiveChat, HubSpot, and Intercom are the most common chattools used by marketers today“Conversational Marketing is helping companies
bridge the gap from the physical to the digitalworld and create personal relationships at scale. As
more brick and mortar retailers move their businessonline, Chat, SMS and even bots are empowering
marketers to deliver a curated experience that people
thought could only exist via face to face engagement.”
SARA VARNIA

Chief Marketing Officer

46

ELLIE MIRMAN
Chief Marketing Officer

2020 Market Research Strategy

Understanding your market is incredibly important. That knowledge enables
you to differentiate your messaging from your competitors’ and draw
consumers towards your offering. This is not a new concept; it’s been

central to marketing for as long as marketing has existed.
Recently, the importance of market research has surged, and a few broad trends are
the cause. One of the most important elements of market research is understanding
where you sit in the competitive landscape.
Check out my full article:

https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing/market-research

47

What we learned

Does your company plan on
conducting market researchin 2020?

72%

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 201972% of marketers conduct market research, and 70% of marketersplan to increase research spend over the next 12 months

What are your company’s tactics for
conducting market research?
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Interviews

Surveys

Focus Groups

Experiments/
Field Trials

Other

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Surveys are the #1 tactic that marketers use to conduct market
research. Followed by interviews and focus groups
48

Does your company use marketing research
to make business decisions?
80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
Yes

No

Sometimes

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Almost 80% of marketers use market research to
inform their business decisions

49

What we learned

Additional Findings
Marketing Strategy
64% of marketers said their marketing budget increased for 2020
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

The top priority for marketers in 2020 is “generating leads”
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Only 53.85% of marketers surveyed say they measure Customer
Acquisition costs.
Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

Over 60% of marketers surveyed say that their customer
acquisition costs have increased in the past 3 years.
Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 202050

Account Based Marketing
61% of marketers say their company currently uses ABM
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

The most common measurement of success for ABM isrevenue won
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

“Researching Accounts” and “Identifying Target Contacts” arethe top two tactics used by marketers within an ABM model
Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

The most common challenge with ABM is delivering apersonalized experience
Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 202051

Automation
68% of marketers say their businesses use automation in some way
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Of those who are automating marketing, 23% are automating
their content delivery
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Customer Marketing
A little over 60% of marketers are currently investing in customer
marketingSource: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

The most common customer marketing tactic is ‘creatingexclusive content for customers.’
Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

About 70% of marketers say that their customer marketing is
at least “moderately effective”
Source: HubSpot Research, North American Survey, Jan - Feb 2020

52

Customer Feedback and Experience
About 86% of marketers reported that they collect customer
feedback on an on-going basis
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Surveys are the most common method used to collectcustomer feedback
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 201968% of marketers surveyed say that their company uses
customer feedback to make business decisions
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 201953

International Marketing
59% of marketers surveyed are currently marketing internationallySource: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019Social media is the most common international marketingtacticSource: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Exchange rates are marketers’ biggest challenge withinternational marketing
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

When marketing to a new region, the most common tactic
marketers use is to shift their product offering
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 2019

Over 90% of marketers say their companies operate in morethan one language
Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Nov - Dec 201954

Global Survey Demographics
Regions Represented:• USA• Australia• Canada• New Zealand• Mexico• Indonesia• Brazil• Singapore• UK• Japan• Germany• India• France• Austria• Spain• Sweden55

Industries Represented:• Advertising or Marketing• Energy/Utilites• Agriculture• Finacial Services• Business/Consumer Services• Goverment Healthcare• Chemicals/metals• Information Technology• Communication Services• Manufacturing• Construction• Media/Entertainment• Consumer Production• Non-Profit

Manufacturing• Retail• Defense or Aeronautics• ECommerce• Education• Transportation/Logistics• Electronics• Travel/Hospitality• Emergency Services• Waste Management or
Water Systems

56

B2B or B2C?

33.37%

54.76%

7.4%

B2B

B2C

Non-Profit/
Government

Company’s average annual revenue:
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Less than$250,000$250,000 to$999,999$1M to$9.9M$10M to$499M$500 to$999M$1B orMore

I don’t know/
prefer57

Level in company:
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
C-Level
Executive

Vice President

Director

Manager

Individual

Other# of Full Time Marketers:
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
0

1-10 Full time

11 to 20
Marketers

21 to 50
Marketers

51 to 100Marketers

101 to 200

201 to 500

501 or MoreDon’t Know/Not

58

# of employees at the company:
30%

20%

10%

0%

Fewer than10

11 to 25

26 to 200

201 tto 1000

More than 1001

59

North American Survey
Demographics
Regions Represented:
• USA

60

Industries Represented:• Advertising or marketing• Financial services and• Agriculture, food, and beverage

insurance• Business or consumer services• Government• Chemicals and metals• Healthcare or public health• Communication services• Information Technology• Construction• Manufacturing and materials• Consumer product manufacturing• Media and entertainment• Education• Non-profit• Electronics• Retail• Energy, utilities, and waste• eCommerce

management• Transportation and logistics• Travel and hospitality

61

B2B or B2C?

30.28%

56.42%

8.26%

5.05%

B2B

B2C

Non-Profit/
Government

Don’tknow/notapplicableCompany’s average annual revenue:
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Less than$250,000$250,000 to$999,999$1M to$9.9M$10M to$499M$500 to$999M$1B orMore

I don’t know/
prefer62

Level in company:
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
C-Level
Executive

Vice President

Director

Manager

Individual

Other# of Full Time Marketers:
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%

0

1-10 Full time

11 to 20
Marketers

21 to 50
Marketers

51 to 100Marketers

101 to 200

201 to 500

501 or MoreDon’t Know/
Not

63

Contributors
This report was an exhaustive effort from about sixty amazing human beings.
Thank you to everyone who was willing to dedicate their time, knowledge,
and energy to make this thing sing.

This was created by marketers, for marketers, and we’re extremely proud of
it. And we hope you, valued reader, were entertained and informed fromwhichever part of the world you’re reading this in.
David Mooney

Sara Varni

Emily Hom

Noel Kelly

Barb Gagne

Nicole Ondracek

Tom Collins

David CarberryPeter Riedle

Matt Watkins

Odette Santos
Teenie Rose

Kyle Denhoff

Chris Eberhardt

Meghana Kartham
Lee Groh

Alexandra De Cespedes
Kipp Bodnar
Crystal King
Aja Frost
AJ Beltis

Carly Stec

Clara Landecy
Ryan VanValin
Jackie Chu

Jocelyn Chen
Christina Mallon
Lee Odden

Josh Chang

Bridget Zingale

Marwa Greaves

Matthew Howells-Barby
Christina Perricone
Cynthia Price
Ellie Mirman

Debbie Farese
Diego Santos
Henni Roini

Ben Harmanus
Marvin Hintze

Karolina Bujalska-Exner
Isabella Valentini
Alice Sol

Jordan Pritkin
Jillian Hope

Connor Cirillo

Jennifer ProudKristen Baker
Allie Decker
Victor Pan

Emmy Jonassen

Kieran Flanagan
Margot Mazur

Nathaniel Medina
Corey Braccialini
Jen Stefancik

Caroline Forsey
Pamela Bump
Karla Cook

Stephanie Washington
Leslie Green64