What would the top 5 priorities be for marketers in 2023?

Marketers are constantly facing scrutiny over their operations and this is expected to continue in amidst the volatile macroeconomic environment. Moving forward, marketers are expected to double down on smarter marketing in a bid to establish deeper and more valuable connections with their customers.

Here are five areas Gartner predicts marketers will focus on in the coming year.

1. By 2027, 80% of enterprise marketers will establish a dedicated content authenticity function to combat misinformation and fake material.

The use of generative AI and user-generated content are predicted to dramatically increase the volume and variety of content brands must monitor. According to Gartner's latest predictions, while proactive reputation management is crucial, scanning for inaccurate or defamatory content at scale in real-time is increasingly difficult in a polarised and high-velocity landscape.

Gartner's VP analyst Chris Ross said the advancement in the scope and sophistication of misinformation creates a growing concern for CMOs.

"Just as AI and other technologies contribute to the content problem, they will also be part of the solution, especially when complemented with dedicated teams that listen, engage, and escalate brand interests across the digital content ecosystem," Ross added.

2. By 2025, 70% of enterprise CMOs will identify accountability for ethical AI in marketing among their top concerns.

Marketing teams are becoming more reliant on AI and machine learning as a result of privacy-related restrictions on data collection, economic pressures and AI breakthroughs. By using AI and machine learning, marketers are able to better optimise campaign performance and lower costs.

However, regulators and advocacy groups are also concerned about manipulative and biased uses of AI through developments. These concerns are voiced through the AI Act in the EU or the AI Bill of Rights in the U.S.

Andrew Frank, distinguished VP analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice, explained that marketing is uniquely positioned to understand the superior CX AI affords as well as its trust and reputational risks.

"This puts the onus on marketers to address the ethical issues that AI is raising in their practices, and the impetus to do so must come from the top," he added.

3. By 2024, 70% of brands will redeploy at least 10% of their media budget to product placement in entertainment content.It is predicted that 85% of consumers with household incomes above US$120k will pay for entertainment subscription tiers, software, hardware or mobile devices that allow them to avoid advertising entirely. This comes at a time where streaming platforms such as Disney+ and Netflix are offering more affordable subscription tiers that allow for ads.

Gartner's VP analyst Kate Muhl explained that the game of cat-and-mouse has become very expensive. According to her, brands pay top dollar to reach high-income consumers via digital advertising, but such impressions become less meaningful as this audience figures out new ways to tune them out.

"Marketers who cling to traditional digital ad formats will increasingly reach an audience composed largely of digital have-nots," she added. Instead, brands that shift budgets toward product placements in entertainment content such as streaming TV will persevere. Gartner said that two-thirds of the 301 consumers surveyed in October this year said they prefer this format rather than seeing separate ads.

4. One-in-three businesses without a loyalty program today will establish one by 2027 to shore up first-party data collection and retain high-priority customers.

Loyalty programmes are currently most common in industries such as retail, hospitality and travel. Gartner said that only 36% of the 1,068 brands it analysed this year had a loyalty programme. There is actually an opportunity for other verticals to have loyalty programmes, such as banking and CPG.

Effective loyalty content generally drives higher open rates than non-loyalty emails, improving wallet retention and growth among high-priority customer segments. By 2023, Gartner predicts that both B2B and B2C companies will increase their investments in loyalty programmes as a percentage of their total marketing budget.

Brad Jashinsky, director analyst at Gartner, said the competition for customers' attention and first-party data will increase as more companies launch and revamp loyalty programmes. "CMOs running best in-class loyalty programs will elevate their approach beyond transactional benefits and recognize personalization as a critical differentiator," he added.

5. By 2025, organisations that use AI across the marketing function will shift 75% of their staff’s operations from production to more strategic activities.

Using AI in marketing operations is expected to reduce friction and eliminate redundancy, allowing marketers to shift their budgets and resources to activities that support a more dynamic marketing organisation.

For example, marketers can leverage AI in the creative process to automate the capturing, processing, and analysing of real-world images and videos, improving image quality and developing digital twins.

Nicole Greene, senior director analyst at Gartner, said AI will continue to refine marketing operations processes to drive more agile, data-based responses to the challenges ahead that have no signs of slowing down.

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