Q1 Bombora Marketing Pulse Finds Marketers Looking to Do More With Less

The shifting economic conditions of early 2023 have left many marketing teams with reduced budgets and mandates to prove that their investments drive return. As a result, marketing teams are actively responding to uncertain economic conditions, reinvesting in building lasting customer relationships, and exploring new ways to reach customers as media habits shift, according to the Bombora Marketing Pulse for Q1 2023.

“The best way to understand marketers’ priorities is to look at the topics that they are researching more than they normally would,” said Jeff Marcoux, CMO of Bombora. “Based on the insights from the Marketing Pulse, it’s clear that marketers are looking for ways to evolve their strategy to meet the current economic conditions. We’ll continue to monitor these trending topics as the year goes on, and marketers hopefully get more clarity on how to help their business grow efficiently. This is the first of many reports Bombora plans to roll out this year, showing how interests and intent are changing across industries.”

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The biggest trend to emerge in Q1 is marketers trying to do more with less by exploring new tools and seeking out best practices. “Marketing Tools” is the top trending topic for the quarter, with a weekly average of 114,500 companies spiking. This spike represents a 20% increase from the Q4 2022 weekly average.

Meanwhile, “Marketing Resource Management” was the topic that grew the most, spiking 1035% when compared to last quarter. Companies of all sizes and within almost every industry researched the topic.

Bombora’s Intent data also showed other research spikes that suggest marketers are looking to adapt to economic uncertainty. Q1 saw an increase in research around “Marketing Tips” as marketers look for better ways to appeal to customers. Meanwhile, businesses actively researching the inflation-adjusted market value of goods and services has increased over 22% from last year, with more than 45,000 companies currently showing increased research activity.

This inaugural version of Bombora’s quarterly Marketing Pulse uses Intent data collected from Bombora’s Data Co-Op of more than 5,000 B2B websites to illustrate how interests are evolving over time and explore how marketers can best elevate their business through these uncertain and rapidly changing times.

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Other key findings in the study include:

-Prioritizing customer relationships. Economic uncertainty has marketers shifting strategy, with a 56.7% decrease in “Market Expansion” and an increase in several signals tied to customer relationships. Chief among these is “Loyalty Liability,” the topic with the second-most growth this quarter, with an average of nearly 80,000 companies spiking each week.

-Out-of-home makes a comeback. Bombora’s Intent data showed a Q1 spike in businesses researching Out of Home, with a weekly average of 37,815 spiking businesses, exceeding 2022’s weekly average by 42%.

-AI draws curiosity. Generative AI has been a buzzworthy topic in marketing circles since late 2022. According to Bombora’s Intent data, research around these types of chat tools has increased by more than 13% since Q4 2022.

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