{"id":593796,"date":"2023-01-04T05:49:54","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T11:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/04\/caution-conservative-budgeting-to-dominate-q1-2023-as-marketers-look-to-outsmart-rather-than-outspend\/"},"modified":"2023-01-04T05:49:54","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T11:49:54","slug":"caution-conservative-budgeting-to-dominate-q1-2023-as-marketers-look-to-outsmart-rather-than-outspend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/04\/caution-conservative-budgeting-to-dominate-q1-2023-as-marketers-look-to-outsmart-rather-than-outspend\/","title":{"rendered":"Caution, conservative budgeting to dominate Q1 2023 as marketers look to \u2018outsmart\u2019 rather than \u2018outspend\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em>This article is part of a limited editorial series, called The 2023 Notebook, and is designed to be a guide to marketing and media buying in the new year.<\/em> Explore the series here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Back in September last year, marketers had high hopes for the fourth quarter<\/a> despite the ongoing economic uncertainty and recession concerns. Marketers at the time weren\u2019t nearly as far along in planning as they usually would be, citing the lack of clarity as a main driver in the need to shorten planning windows<\/a> and create more flexibility as they would take things month-by-month, hoping for good news. <\/p>\n

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But ultimately Q4 didn\u2019t deliver on the kinds of sales marketers were hoping for with major retailers like Target expecting slowed growth<\/a> and brands and tech giants Facebook, Twitter, HP<\/a>, Netflix, Robinhood, Glossier and more<\/a> cutting jobs.<\/p>\n

And history seems to be repeating itself with Q1 planning happening several weeks later than usual and the push for flexibility continuing. While that\u2019s not the case for everyone \u2014\u00a0some marketers said planning is pacing like usual \u2014\u00a0there\u2019s a sense overall from marketers and agency execs that early 2023 will be all about caution, with many pulling back on experimental budgets to stick to media channels that are more tried and true.<\/p>\n

\u201cQ1 planning is definitely happening later than usual for the majority of accounts, with clients wanting to support their campaigns, but balance that with flexibility,\u201d said Stacey Stewart, U.S. chief marketplace officer at UM, in mid-December. \u201cCampaigns with early January starts are being finalized but it was a bit more of a rush than normal. Some clients are only booking a few weeks at a time to manage for flexibility. Anything with a later start in Q1 is largely still being planned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Navigating uncertainty<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s been difficult for marketers get a good sense of what\u2019s to come<\/a> as the current downturn hasn\u2019t followed the same path as the previous downturns just yet. At the same time, while ad spending figures appear down it may be more a case of dollars moving to incremental rather than being cut altogether. <\/p>\n

Mo Said, founder and CCO of Mojo Supermarket, acknowledged that Q1 planning is happening later than usual. \u201cPeople are trying to hedge bets and see what\u2019s happening with the economy, which is going to be really hard for them to see right now. [They\u2019re] not going to have an exact answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

That marketers would continue to exercise caution heading into Q1 of 2023 isn\u2019t surprising. Over the last few years of the pandemic<\/a>, marketers have become accustomed<\/a> to pivoting plans to deal with various changes in consumer sentiment and many expect marketers and agency execs to operate in a similar manner<\/a> in early 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The lack of clarity into what this year will truly bring \u2014 a true recession or the continuity of economic uncertainty \u2014 will likely have marketers rethinking strategies, plans and spending which will push them to ask for the flexibility that the pandemic has pushed them to establish in other deals.<\/p>\n

Dealing with uncertainty has been the \u201ccommon descriptor\u201d over the last three years, said Mark Weinfeld, svp and managing director for Innocean, so why is Q1 planning different this year?<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the world economy continuing to slow and much of Europe already in recession, many companies are worried how this will impact their business not just in Q1 but throughout 2023,\u201d said Weinfeld, adding that the U.S. just went through an important mid-term election, \u201cthat had many social and financial implications. So that led to the delay for many.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weinfeld continued: \u201cAdd in the fact that there are still labor and raw material shortages has had a lot of business leaders being more conservative in their forecasts.\u00a0 So budgets are not only late, but also more conservative. These delays will have a significant impact on marketing activity in Q1.\u201d<\/p>\n

Delayed timelines<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s no wonder, then, that marketers would take their time to set Q1 plans in stone as the outlook has been unclear or dark. That\u2019s not to say all marketers have delayed nailing down plans but that there\u2019s certainly been an effect on how marketers will operate next quarter. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor clients dependent on product releases, especially technology, there is a bit more caution,\u201d said Carrie Philpott, chief client officer, Wunderman Thompson North America, adding that the shop has seen typical timelines for planning this quarter but more caution. \u201cWe have seen more of a conservative approach to overall spend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some marketers aren\u2019t just taking a more conservative approach to budgets or looking for areas to cut in the New Year but asking agencies how to spend their budgets in ways that will help their brands stand out more than ever next year. \u201cI saw this when Covid happened too,\u201d said Mojo Supermarket\u2019s Said. \u201cIn a year like we\u2019re about to have, people want to outsmart instead of outspend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said added that when brands don\u2019t have the ad dollars they require they may turn to finding other means to stand out \u2014\u00a0making their ads more unique or rolling out rebrands, whatever it may be to \u201cstay relevant in a year where we might not know how much money we have for media,\u201d explained Said.<\/p>\n

Marketers expect there to be more \u201cscrutiny and rigor,\u201d noted Stewart, when it comes to where ad dollars are spent in the first quarter. Others echoed Said\u2019s analogy of early Covid, when chief financial officers held the purse strings more tightly. Given the economic climate, many expect a similar need to prove out the importance and worth of advertising in early 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be make or break,\u201d said Said. \u201cYou\u2019re either going to do something amazing or what you\u2019ve always done and you know works and you\u2019ll die.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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