Singapore – According to a survey by HubSpot and Milieu Insight, more than eight in 10 (84%) Singapore businesses are leveraging digital marketing for their advertising needs, but 50% struggle to accurately measure return on investment.
The survey found that more than seven in 10 businesses (78%) that use digital marketing have a strategy in place, and more than half (57%) of businesses without a digital marketing strategy plan to develop one in the near future.
However, research from HubSpot and Milieu Insight suggests that poor tracking capabilities may be limiting the effectiveness of digital marketing: Despite widespread adoption by local businesses, only 17% of Singaporean respondents strongly believe that a strong digital marketing strategy leads to increased revenue, well below the regional average of 41%.
The report suggests that low adoption of key tools such as customer relationship management (CRM) platforms may be preventing effective tracking of marketing results: Only 41% of Singaporean businesses doing digital marketing use CRM tools, the lowest percentage of any country surveyed.
In addition to low adoption of tools, the survey revealed that 24% of Singaporean companies doing digital marketing are not confident in their team's ability to use these tools effectively. Additionally, 49% believe their strategy has failed to achieve their organizational goals for 2023, the highest percentage of any country surveyed, suggesting a potential skills gap in Singapore's marketing function.
Matt Tindale, Head of Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn, APAC“In Singapore, the speed of technological advancements is rapid, creating opportunities for marketers to upskill. Upskilling and reskilling not only helps professionals adapt to change, but also helps them leverage new technologies to improve productivity and outcomes. Our survey results show that the majority of local businesses are focused on brand awareness, but the real challenge is to translate that awareness into actionable growth,” said Mr.
“Singapore is poised to undergo a digital marketing transformation, with 60% of companies surveyed indicating they are integrating AI into their digital marketing strategy. To be successful, companies need to use effective measurement frameworks and tools that support data-driven decision-making, which is essential to maximise ROI. One example of this is LinkedIn's revenue attribution report, which combines CRM data with information from marketing touchpoints across the customer journey. This allows marketers to better demonstrate the impact of LinkedIn campaigns on key metrics such as pipeline generated, deal cycles and revenue, ultimately helping them make better business decisions,” added Tindale.
Meanwhile, when assessing the impact of digital marketing, more than half (52%) of Singaporean respondents prioritise brand awareness, which contrasts with the region's preference for sales and revenue as the primary success metric.
This trend towards digital marketing is expected to continue in 2024. According to the survey, investment in digital marketing is expected to continue in 2024, with more than a third of Singapore businesses (35%) spending more than S$10,000 per month. Most businesses are allocating 21%-40% of their marketing budget to digital channels. Notably, more than a third plan to maintain their current investment levels in 2024, the highest percentage of any country surveyed.
The survey also revealed that among Singapore businesses with a digital marketing strategy, 62% consider social media to be the most important channel, followed by content marketing (50%) and search engine marketing (49%). Almost half (42%) also ranked social media in the top three important channels for their digital marketing activities.
The dominance of social media in digital marketing is evident in budget allocation and tool usage: in Singapore, the survey found that social media marketing accounts for 23% of the marketing budget, with social media management platforms being the most widely used tool, used by over 51% of respondents.
“We're excited to be working with Salesforce to bring the power of Salesforce to the next generation of Salesforce,” said Kat Warboys, senior marketing director for Asia Pacific at HubSpot. “We're excited to be working with Salesforce to bring the power of Salesforce to the next generation of Salesforce.” “Social selling and commerce is becoming increasingly popular in Singapore, providing a highly effective platform for brands to reach, target and engage with their audiences on a personal level. Despite the growing popularity of social media platforms, brands must avoid over-reliance on any single channel.”
Worboys adds: “Today, more than half of global customers use three to five different channels throughout their buying journey. Success will depend on brands establishing a presence on the channels their customers and prospects use, and leveraging a CRM platform to accurately measure the impact of their marketing efforts. This is essential to engage actively and deliver a frictionless experience, regardless of channel.”
In addition to social media management platforms, businesses in Singapore widely use CRM platforms (41%) and email marketing solutions (37%). Integrating these tools with a solid marketing strategy helps brands engage customers across channels, consolidate data for better measurement accuracy, and improve customer experience.
Worboys adds: “As digital channels explode in popularity, ensuring customer data is not scattered across multiple platforms will be key to success. A potential solution could be the use of conversion APIs, which allow brands to accurately track and measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts on social media platforms. As conversion APIs are a server-side tracking option, they can still provide observable data that would otherwise be limited by privacy controls. This is something marketers will need to consider as third-party cookies are phased out.”
“Having a CRM solution that can seamlessly integrate with such tools will enable marketers to make the most of the information collected across the customer journey. This free flow of information will give marketers the insights they need to drive more targeted campaigns, automatically follow up on leads generated from social media, and clearly track the ROI of all advertising campaigns,” she concluded.
