Marketing’s strategic importance continues to rise

Marketing’s strategic importance is on the rise, as brands turn to marketers to help get closer to customers tackling the cost of living crisis and inflation puts pressure on price, according to Marketing Week’s Career and Salary Survey.

Of the more than 3,000 marketers responding to 2023’s survey, 40.9% say marketing has a greater strategic role within their business.

In last year’s survey 30.9% of respondents said marketing had a bigger strategic say, a 10 percentage point increase year on year.

More than a third (34.8%) of the 3,000+ brand marketers that completed the survey say marketing is more influential within their businesses, while 27.2% say marketing is better appreciated.

Meanwhile, as marketing’s strategic role grows, the majority of marketers feel confident in their ability to influence change at their companies (58.2%).

Elsewhere, almost two-thirds of marketers (65%) feel their work is having a greater impact than it did previously. Of these, 17.9% strongly agreed their work is, while 47.1% agreed.

Gary Booker, chief marketing, innovation and strategy officer at Rentokil Initial, said: “The harder the times, arguably the more important marketing becomes. Clearly, we’ve had some hard times globally and in the UK.”

Revealed: Marketing’s strategic importance is on the riseMore than a fifth of marketers (21%) report the view of marketing hasn’t changed, and 15% say marketing is not seen as a priority from an investment perspective.

Additionally, 8.8% say marketing has become less influential in the past year, with 8.5% also saying marketing is less appreciated.

Using the Career and Salary Survey data, Marketing Week will explore how and why marketers are taking on a greater strategic role, broken down by B2B, B2C and other categories. 

Click here to read all the latest 2023 Career and Salary Survey content