CMO Study Says Marketing Budgets Won't Be Cut

The Boston Business Journal summarized a study by the CMO Club that indicated that the overwhelming majority (71%) of their members surveyed won't be slashing marketing budgets this year despite concerns about an economic downturn. 

Other key findings:

• When asked which budget line items would be cut first, advertising and mass marketing strategies (32 percent) were cited most frequently.
• Online strategies, such as search engine optimization and online marketing campaigns, were cited as the least likely to be cut, followed by public relations campaigns.

As we have been saying for years, the study concurs that the last thing you want to cut when a market is getting tight is your marketing program. That is when you need to be as aggressive as possible to both maintain your share and take share away from others who may be making the mistake of being silent.

The survey tapped 100 of the more than 1,200 CMO members of the CMO Club who come from startups to Fortune 1000 firms in B-to-C and B-to-B markets.  The survey took place in April and May and full results  were presented this week at the CMO's Clubs Summit in New York.