At the beginning of 2023, experts predicted that brands would prioritize search engine optimization (SEO), video content, AI-powered marketing tools, and personalization to fight back in a period of global economic uncertainty. Did those predictions hold up? What did brands prioritize within marketing technology this year?

What Went Well

Now in its sixth year, the TEAM LEWIS Marketing Engagement Tracker (MET) is an annual evaluation of the marketing efforts of the Forbes Top 300 companies globally. This year, we found that brands doubled down on marketing in 2023. They invested more in marketing content creation, SEO, and search engine marketing (SEM) with the goal of driving business resilience. They were successful at garnering attention from their target audience and engaging their customers online longer than ever before. We saw this play out in the MET scores on Digital Marketing, which increased substantially from 47% in 2022 to 65% in 2023. Specifically, we saw improved keyword difficulty scores, growth in top 10 keyword trends, and increased site visit duration due to enhanced SEM advertisements.

Room for Improvement

However, brands’ heavy focus on content creation and SEO had a detrimental impact on website performance, security, and UX. We found that MET scores on Site Security decreased significantly from 80% in 2022 to 64% in 2023. More external Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) were connected to company websites in 2023 compared to 2022, resulting in an increased risk in cyberattacks and website vulnerabilities. 59% of companies have over 100 APIs. This volume of APIs provides too many opportunities for threat actors to attack with direct access to a company’s data and systems. Indeed, 92% of organizations have had at least one API-related security incident over the past 12 months and 74% have dealt with three or more API-related breaches over the past two years.

We also saw a slight decrease in MET scores on Website Performance, from 48% in 2022 to 46% in 2023. Within website performance, we evaluated tag management, use of conversion tracking, and use of personalization tools. Our research revealed that the creation of more pages and digital content lead to a decrease in website performance scores. It appears that conversion tracking and tag management were deprioritized by marketing teams this year in favor of marketing collateral creation. Andy Martinus, Global Head of Innovation at TEAM LEWIS, adds that “brands sought to build awareness over tracking user journeys. This will be an area to monitor even more closely in 2024 with the move away from third party cookies.”

One positive, however, is an increased use of personalization tools. By now, we know that customers expect personalized experiences from brands. In fact, 76% say they even get frustrated by companies who do not provide personalized experiences. At the same time, consumers value their privacy. In a survey TEAM LEWIS conducted last year, we found that 84% of US consumers value protecting their data and privacy over receiving personalized content from brands.

Rex Petrill, Vice President and Head of Paid Media at TEAM LEWIS adds that “marketing is in the midst of a crossroads: customers desire relevant content but rightfully don’t trust big tech and brands to safeguard their privacy. Brands who can regain consumer trust will be able to better serve their audiences via personalized experiences.”

A trend we predict for 2024 is the rapid adoption of AI-driven personalization. In another survey TEAM LEWIS conducted last year, we found that 55% of marketers in the US say that AI has had a positive impact on personalization. Further, 92% of companies are using AI-powered personalization to gain new customers and retain existing customers to drive business growth.

According to Martinus, “2023 was the first year we have seen companies actively move towards using AI in marketing tactics, at scale, a trend that will continue into 2024. Personalization has been a challenge for companies for a number of years. When used correctly, AI may be the answer to this problem area.”

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Priorities for 2024

So, what can we learn about the marketing mix from the Forbes Top 300 companies?

Brands will need to tackle website security in 2024. With 40% of organizations testing only a few APIs for security vulnerabilities, it’s no surprise that API-related security breaches are on the rise. Brands need to prioritize streamlining their APIs. It’s also necessary to properly deactivating APIs they no longer use and reinvest in overall site security this year.

Brands must do a better job of designing digital experiences with every customer in mind. Companies should continue to invest in personalized experiences and AI-powered personalization tools. However, they should be cognizant of protecting customer data and privacy. They should also allow customers choice in how much and what types of information they share in exchange for personalized experiences.

Finally,

As Petrill notes, “A clear, well-documented tag management process is critical for all brands. Doing so helps ensure not only privacy and consent compliance, but also maximizes site performance by clearing old or unnecessary tags that can be a drag on site speeds.”

Methodology

The TEAM LEWIS Marketing Engagement Tracker (MET) compares how brands perform in their marketing mix. We evaluate nine key topic areas including digital marketing, site security, site optimization, website performance, and UX. Each topic area is composed of three to six questions. This enables each company’s marketing mix to be ranked on a 10-point scale. The scores are aggregated overall and by topic area. The individual top 300 company scores were created between September 20th and October 31st, 2023.

TEAM LEWIS analyzed the top 300 companies from the ‘Forbes Global 2000: The World’s Largest Public Companies’ list. This compilation is an industry benchmark with a trusted methodology.

TEAM LEWIS delivers creative campaigns for commercial and community causes. Founded in 1995, the agency operates in 25 offices throughout Asia, EMEA, and North America.

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