As the economy slowly comes back to life, more companies are increasing their marketing budgets, according to the Gartner 2015-2016 CMO Spend Survey, which examines organizations’ marketing and digital marketing spending priorities and plans for the future.

Marketing budgets increased to an average of 11 percent of corporate revenue in 2015 from 10 percent in 2014, according to survey respondents, and two out of three marketers expect their budgets to continue to grow in 2016.

Companies are investing more heavily in e-commerce, which now comprises an average of 11 percent of their total digital marketing spend, up from 8 percent a year ago, making it the top-ranked area of investment for marketing technology.

Marketing has often been an afterthought for distributors, but that needs to change, according to speakers at recent distributor events. Alan Beaulieu, an economist with ITR Economics, has been telling attendees at association conferences during the past year to invest in their marketing efforts.

“If you don’t have a chief marketing officer, rent one,” he said at the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors Executive Summit in Washington, DC, earlier this year.

To better understand the importance of marketing – and to learn where you should be focusing your marketing – check out Bob DeStefano's new book Old Dog, New Clicks: Online Industrial and B2B Marketing Know-How for the 21st Century, available now in the MDM Store.

You can also read more about the importance of marketing in Bob's recent blog, 5 Online Marketing Tips for Success in 2016.