81% of APAC marketers anticipate ad budget hikes in 2024, up from 56% last year: Nielsen

Delhi: Despite inflation, slowed consumer spending and supply chain uncertainties, 72% of global marketers expect bigger ad budgets this year, up from 64% last year, stated Nielsen’s latest annual marketing report. 

APAC is particularly bullish, with 81% anticipating budget increases, versus just 56% in 2023, highlighted the report.

The report further mentioned that marketers’ top KPIs are long-term and full-funnel ROI. “However, 70% plan to prioritise performance marketing over brand-building initiatives,” stated Nielsen. 

On average, global marketers plan to dedicate 63% of their budgets to digital channels, with social media, search, online video and digital display accounting for the largest increases, as per the report.

Highlighting a challenge that marketers need to overcome, Nielsen reported that with nearly two-thirds of media budgets going toward digital and performance channels, marketers may not be able to achieve the holistic returns they’re looking for.

84% of global marketers say they’re either extremely or very confident in their ROI measurement capabilities, up from 69% in 2023. However, only 38% say they evaluate the holistic ROI of their marketing efforts by measuring traditional and digital marketing together. 

According to Nielsen, once brands identify their campaign’s true goal, they must focus spending on the channels that deliver the most ROI for specific KPIs. Broadcast radio, for example, is less expensive (weighted average CPM) than streaming audio and delivers a higher weighted average ROI

Nielsen suggested marketers explore new media channels like podcasts and branded content. These are relatively affordable options that are proven to deliver. 

Nielsen also mentioned that in 2024, nearly 70% of global marketers say the importance of retail media in their planning is more important than it was a year ago. 

For this report, Nielsen engaged 1,514 global marketing professionals who completed an online survey between December 5, 2023, and December 21, 2023.