60% of Digital Marketing Spend Now Goes Toward Paid Channels

As marketers continue to discover new tactics to help them achieve their top objectives, new research indicates that many are now willing to invest more in paid channels.

Gartner recently published “The State of Marketing Budget and Strategy 2022” report, and statistics suggested that the majority of digital marketing spend (60%) is now allocated to paid channels. Specifically, 10.1% goes toward social advertising, while 9.8% is dedicated to search advertising. Approximately 9.3% is invested in digital display advertising as well.

However, many marketers are still dedicated to utilizing their budget on unpaid channels as well. About 8.5% of marketing budget allocation goes toward SEO, according to the report, while 7.8% is invested in email marketing. The same percentage is invested in content and messaging.

The Growing Investment in Emerging Marketing Technology

As marketers consider new areas for budget investment, previous research suggests that virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and the metaverse are growing in popularity.

Sprout Social conducted its “US Social Media Trends for 2022 and Beyond” report, and data indicated that over the next 12 months, about 50% of marketers anticipate VR, AR, or extended reality to play a role in their interactions with customers. Furthermore, 39% of marketers said the same about the metaverse, in particular.

That being said, most respondents (38%) stated that they anticipate spending between 25% and 50% of their budget on their metaverse, AR, and VR social strategies within the next two years.