Marketers increasingly dedicating budgetary resources to technology

Marketing has become a much more challenging pursuit than it was just a few short years ago, as the arrivals of cloud computing, mobile devices and social media have all served to muddle the picture and make matters more complicated for businesses everywhere. If you want to keep in touch with your existing customers or your future prospects, there are numerous ways to do so, and it can be difficult to choose the best plan of attack.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that businesses are ramping up their spending on technology, especially where marketing is concerned. They need better resources for a wide variety of pursuits, including internal things like database management and more external matters such as interfacing with consumers directly. All of these tools, of course, cost money.

According to Direct Marketing News, technology now eats up a significant chunk of the budget for the typical business. The news source drew upon recent survey data compiled by advisory company CEB, which finds that marketing departments today are dedicating 25 percent of their budgets on average to technology. Likewise, sales teams are spending 23 percent.

DMNews elaborated that technology is everywhere, not just in businesses' budgets. There are also areas where outside factors like the "bring your own device" trend and external data sources have made an impact, says the publication's associate editor, Elyse Dupre.

"Marketers and salespeople aren't the only employees who depend on technology," Dupre explained. "Today, employees across organizations are not only using company-provided tools, they're also investing in their own gadgetry for their jobs."

CEB's data indicated that all this room in the budget for technology helps companies in four very specific ways:

• Analytics - Companies need to know who their customers are and what vital information is influencing their decisions. Analytics solutions can help.
• Collaboration - Employees across many teams, ranging from marketing to sales and customer service too, need to work together to tackle complex business issues.
• Automation - Numerous processes can be done more efficiently using automated solutions, whether it's recording a sale or sending out a social media blast.
• Interfacing - When people need to communicate directly with their favorite brands, technology can help there, too. Mobile apps and social media sites can be a huge help - but of course, those cost money.

With more resources dedicated to high-tech efforts, companies can do a lot more to step up their marketing game. It all begins with the budget.