Airtable Marketing Trends Report 2022
Marketing trends report
Table of contents Introduction 3 New tools. New challenges. New strategies. Section 1 5 The marketer’s reality in 2022. Section 2 9 Factors inhibiting marketings’ potential. Section 3 18 Signals of success. Conclusion 27 ‘Now’ is critical. It’s time for change. 28 Methodology 30 About Airtable 2 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
Introduction New tools. New challenges. New strategies. If you’re a marketing leader in 2022, you’ve If you’re struggling to keep your team engaged, this seen a lot of “new” in the last 10 years, if not last point should hit home. The inability to connect the last 10 months. After two years immersed everyday work to meaningful outcomes has been linked in a global pandemic, and as major economic to employee burnout—manifesting in feelings of “mental shifts force teams to accelerate digital distance from one’s job” or “negativism or cynicism transformation and focus on efficiency, we’re related to one’s job”, as defined by the World Health collectively more exhausted (and distracted!) Organization. The great majority of participants in this than ever. Leaders are challenged to keep report—even the marketing leaders who are responsible their teams inspired and performant—even for revenue-based goals—find it strikingly difficult to show the return on investment (ROI) of content and campaigns. as the very nature of marketing continues to And only 24% find it ‘very easy’ to measure the impact evolve. The rate of change shows no signs of marketing initiatives against broader business goals. of slowing. How can a team stay motivated, without confidence Keeping up with these changes takes a powerful that their work truly matters? investment of your teams’ energy and time—an The tension between the ideal and the real is the investment we could be spending on the work itself. foundation of this report. Broader, societal narratives This report suggests that we’re increasingly balancing of burnout, the great resignation, and low productivity deep work with chasing asset approvals, communicating come to life in this data—shown in the hours marketers the same information in multiple places, keeping data up spend in meetings, the endless lists of non-core tasks, to date, and proving our value as marketers, as a team. and the lack of room left for creative collaboration. On the brighter side, clear commonalities exist between teams that are successfully reversing these engagement-draining trends—they’re connecting their initiatives to broader company goals, they’re investing in no code technologies, and they’re improving the efficiency of their day to day workflows. By adopting similar methods, marketing leaders can build teams that are not just adaptable, but resilient in the face of change. 3 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
A preview of the findings Challenges: This survey of 300 marketing leaders shows that the role • 95% of marketing leaders reported an increase of marketing is constantly changing, but also that they’re in the volume and campaign and content requests increasingly asked to ramp up delivery and drive the in the last year company forward. This presents a major opportunity • Only 30% of marketing leaders have even moderate for marketing teams to become the heroes of their orgs. visibility into ROI of campaigns And yet, many marketers find their daily activities far • 36% of marketing data is duplicated across removed from the bottom line. multiple sources In these findings, you will see year-on-year trends from • 74% of marketing teams reported that their workflow our 2021 Marketing Trends Report. You will also see new is siloed and has disconnected processes themes emerge, including the proven benefits of no code technologies, the challenges of manual work, and the Trends in successful teams: pressure—and rewards—that occur when a marketing • Marketing teams that are responsible for revenue team is aligned with an organization’s strategic goals goals have greater visibility into campaign ROI and vision. • 80% of marketers are currently using no code marketing tools • Automation increased by 35% between 2021 and 2022 • Workflow efficiency and goal attainment are directly correlated Methodology The study includes 300 respondents who are ‘senior manager’ and above in their marketing department. All respondents are full-time employees at US companies with 500 or more employees; 70% work for companies with over 1,000 employees. Their primary responsibilities in marketing range from operations, analytics, and program management, to communications, brand, and social media marketing. 4 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
Section 1 The marketer’s reality in 2022. As businesses adjust their growth strategies Marketing teams’ workload jumped 52% in the face of potential economic downturn, in the last year marketing teams have a role to play in increasing efficiency, speeding digital Marketing teams are under increasing pressure to deliver transformation, reducing friction, and cutting a greater volume of content and campaigns. In this year’s obvious costs. We asked marketing leaders survey, 95% of respondents reported an increase in the if their roles have changed over the last year volume of campaign and content requests in the last year, compared to 80% in 2021. On average, workload volume and, if so, how they’re responding to these increased by more than half. changes. The results show: Increase demand and stress levels soar The rest of the org is increasingly reliant on their 86% of marketing leaders reported the current workload marketing partners is causing stress for their team—the same percentage • 95% of respondents reported an increase in the we saw in 2021. Contributing factors include the increase volume of campaign and content requests in the in request volume, and an onslaught of additional or last year changing responsibilities. This consistent pain point suggests that, while managers can see their teams are Marketing leaders still aren’t sure how they’re struggling, and can even identify major stress factors contributing to growth affecting their teams, they are failing to implement • 81% of marketing leaders report that their team is meaningful changes. responsible for contributing to organizational revenue goals, but fewer than 1 in 3 marketing leaders have Marketing teams can’t keep up moderately high visibility into the ROI of campaigns In the face of growing demands from the rest of the company, only 1 in 5 marketing teams meet their deadlines ‘almost always’; this drops to fewer than 1 in 7 at organizations with more than 5,000 employees. A similar proportion (22%) of marketing leaders report meeting their objectives and goals at least 75% of the time. And almost 3 in 4 marketing leaders are frustrated by how long it takes to ship campaigns 5 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
95% 52% 86% of marketing leaders reported an The increase in campaigns and of marketing leaders report their increase in the volume of campaign content requests over the last teams are stressed about workload, and content requests in the last year. This comRares to a P2% with top factors depicted in the year. This number was 80% in 2021. increase in 2020-21. graph (below). This remains the same from last year. The major factors contributing to workload stress for marketing teams Additional oo changing oetpontibilitiet 46% Incoeating volume of campaignt, oequettt, and content 42% Gapt in cuooent toolt 34% Challenget of wooking on oemote oo hyboid team 34% Changing needt of the butinett 3 % Inecient wook owt 27% Infoomation tilot between teamt 26% Uncleao poiooitization acoott teamt 24% Duplication of wook oo efoott 24% None of the above 0% I am frustrated by how long it takes to ship most campaigns. Agree Disagree 73% 27% 6 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
The role of marketing is evolving, but leaders states that 83% of global CEOs believe marketing can lack visibility into what actually works be a major driver of revenue, but 23% of CEOs do not feel marketing is delivering on that agenda. And this report Marketing leaders report ‘additional or changing shows that fewer than 1 in 3 marketing leaders report responsibilities’ as a main factor contributing to moderately high visibility into the ROI of campaigns. team stress. This begs the question: what exactly has changed? Even growth-focused teams are unsure where “Marketing, perhaps more so than any other profession, the revenue comes from has gone through tremendous change over this past Despite increasing demands and an ever-expanding decade,” says Scott Brinker, Hubspot VP of Platform scope of responsibilities, most marketing teams struggle Ecosystem and creator of the Chief Marketing to connect data to decision making and prove the ROI Technologist Blog. As he told Airtable recently, of content and campaigns. Only 33% of teams who “Marketers are just constantly under pressure, asking are responsible for revenue goals reported ‘very or themselves, ‘How do we adapt and work with the things moderately high’ visibility into campaign ROI, and this that are changing around us?’” dropped to 16% of teams who are not responsible for With 81% of our marketing leaders reporting revenue. In addition, fewer than 1 in 5 teams find it ‘very responsibilities for revenue goals, one of the toughest easy’ to turn data into actionable insights, and fewer changes for marketers may be the pressure to drive than 1 in 4 marketing teams find it ‘very easy’ to measure ROI—without adequate visibility. Research from McKinsey the impact of marketing campaigns against broader business goals. Only Only Only 17% 1% 24% of marketers fnd it ‘ers eassy to of marketers fnd it ‘ers eassy) of marketers fnd it ‘ers eassy) turn data into actionable insights. to make real time data dri‘en to measure impact of marketing decisions. campaigns against broader business goals. The percentage of marketing teams with ‘very or moderately high’ visibility into campaign and content ROI Responsible for meeting revenue goals 33% Not responsible for revenue goals 16% Total 29% 7 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
The challenges of elusive ROI The flip side of this narrative is also instructive. When companies do invest in improving the factors contributing Guessing leads to false prioritization to burnout—establishing clear expectations and As any marketer knows, demonstrating ROI helps you performance goals, showing alignment and impact to prove your team’s value, but it also keeps your team broader business goals, increasing time for creative work, moving in the right direction. How do you know you’re etc.— they typically see an outsized increase in employee investing in the right campaigns and assets? How can engagement. you justify or push back on certain decisions without data? As requests accelerate, marketers without clear Gallup states: “Employees who strongly agree their metrics are at a disadvantage in both decision-making performance metrics are within their control are 55% less and negotiation. likely to experience burnout frequently … Employees are significantly less likely to be burned out when they can Unclear impact stifles engagement connect their work to their company’s mission or purpose The problem runs deeper than decision-making. Unclear in a way that makes their job feel important. Managers impact leads to frustration and increased risk of burnout must do more than point to the mission statement on the in employees who don’t know what their company wants wall—they must show how their employees’ contributions from them. According to Gallup, poor communication make a difference.” from managers (specifically around expectations, performance goals, and alignment to business goals) is a top factor contributing to employee burnout. The same research finds employees who are burnt out are 63% more likely to take a sick day, 23% more likely to visit the emergency room, and 2.6x as likely to be actively seeking a different job. Gallup also estimates that it costs between .5x to 2x of an employee’s annual salary to replace them. At the business level, burnout leads to “low productivity, high turnover, and the loss of the most capable talent”, according to Harvard Business Review. The same research put “heavy workloads and frustrating work routines of too many meetings and far too little time for creative work” as key contributing factors to burnout. Notably, this report shows marketing leaders face these challenges daily. 8 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
Section 2 The factors inhibiting marketings’ potential. During this research, shared pain points 1. Unreliable and difficult-to-find data on planned emerged. These were correlated with marketing activities heightened team stress, poor team outcomes, • 36% of marketing data is duplicated in multiple places and an inability to consistently meet goals 2. Poor collaboration with anyone outside the team, and expectations. The factors most highly which deepens siloes and disconnect correlated with negative results include: • 74% of marketing teams report that their workflow is siloed and has disconnected processes 3. Very limited time for creative collaboration and deep work • Marketing leaders spend an average of 1.25 days each week on non-core tasks 1. Too many sources of information, Their customers felt the pain. In a worst-case scenario, too many browser tabs gym members at home were seeing the wrong images on their screens. “The in-app visuals didn’t align directly When Lindsey joined Equinox, a fitness company in New with the voiceover. So the instructor would say one thing York, she was tasked with launching Equinox+, a hub of but the athlete taking the class would be seeing another,” online fitness classes in 2019. And when gyms closed at Lindsey said. the onset of Covid-19, this charge turned from creating an adjunct app, to launching a business-critical avenue for The way she solved this problem didn’t just grow reaching customers and growing the community. Equinox+, but changed the trajectory of Linsey’s career. Initially, the classes and content were manually managed in spreadsheets and docs, which led to an increasing amount of human error as Lindsey attempted to scale. Because there were multiple sources of data, and multiple places to enter or edit that data, information was updated in some places and not others, leading to confusion around which version was the most accurate. 9 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
As this report validates, many marketing teams share Equinox’s experience—struggling to achieve a holistic view of marketing activities. This challenge not only leads to the duplication of data and information, but is also linked to heightened stress and more manual work. 0% 9 11 of marketing teams we surveyed The average number of sources The average number of sources have a single ‘source of truth’ for marketing teams consult for marketing teams consult at up-to-date information on up-to-date information on organi;ations with more than marketing activities. marketing activities. 5,000 employees. The slippery slope—from multiple sources to duplicated data and heightened stress This survey found that, on average, 36% of marketing data is duplicated in multiple places, such as spreadsheets, docs, and apps. This jumps to 45% of data in companies with more than 5,000 employees. This problem is largely caused by different teams having different points of entry for information about their campaigns, activities, and results—meaning that, throughout marketing, information and data is duplicated across different calendars and project management tools. The number of sources (dashboards, databases, apps, documents, emails, etc.) marketing teams have to consult for up-to-date information on marketing activities 1 source 0% 2 - 4 sources 13% 5 - 9 sources 44% 1G - 14 sources 30% 15 - 19 sources 10% 2G or Kore sources 3% Tttrpti tn egtrf raeikt engrltedtisrwtfritpfi r‘daple e efnrf rwfikrfirtffi ssr eastsrs itssr fir tteir team Number of sources of information to stay up-to-date 2 - 4 sources 10% 5 or more 26% 10 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
The percentage of marketing data that is duplicated in multiple places, such as spreadsheets, docs, and apps. Number of sources of information to stay up-to-date 2 - 4 sources 29% 5 or more 37% The percentage of the work week marketing leaders spend in internal meetings (not customer-facing) Number of sources of information needed to stay up-to-date 9% 2 - 4 sources 5 or more sources 12% How did Lindsey change the way her team works? Lindsey onboarded the team to Airtable and established what she calls ‘core values’ of the ecosystem—meaning there is only one point of entry for any piece of information, and that data now flows endlessly to other locations. This created a single source of truth, and the team went from publishing 50 classes in six months to publishing 50 new classes a week. Lindsey has been promoted three times since she started at Equinox. Lindsey Puccio, Product Manager at Equinox Take action: Take Lindsey’s lead and consolidate sources wherever you can. Refreshingly, you don’t need to pull everything into one place overnight; you can take a more iterative approach. This report shows that even consolidating to fewer than five sources will reduce data duplication, stress, and time in redundant meetings by at least a quarter. 11 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
2. Collaboration challenges: If you’re starts at the planning stage, with teams making decisions not on the team, you may as well be at in siloes because data and information is not connected another company in one, collectively accessible place. We’ve all experienced the challenges of siloed or Research from McKinsey recently concluded that disconnected teams. You complete a project only to successful organizations rely on marketing to be an active discover another team has done the same work in collaborator with IT, Sales, HR, Finance, and Technology. parallel, or you haven’t brought in the right stakeholders. Unfortunately this report found that collaborating outside You struggle to tie your team’s initiatives and outcomes of marketing is comparable to collaborating with external to others, or realize your big success is irrelevant to the partners. Put simply, if you’re not on the marketing team, rest of the org. This frustration is widespread, with 74% you may as well be at another company. of marketing teams reporting their workflow is siloed with disconnected processes. Most likely, this disconnect 73% 66% 62% of marketing leaders found it of marketing leaders found it of marketing leaders found it moderately or very easy to moderately or very easy to moderately or very easy to collaborate within marketing. collaborate with those outside$ collaborate with those outside$ of marketing within the org. of the organi6ation entirely. Notably, those teams who find collaboration ‘very easy’ reported significant advantages over teams who find collaboration more difficult. For example, 33% of marketing leaders who find it ‘very easy’ to collaborate with the wider organization strongly agree their teams’ workflow is easy to scale up to increase marketing deliverables, compared to 17% who find collaboration ‘very difficult’ to ‘slightly easy’. The impact of working in silos 74% 22% of marketing teams report that Silo’d teams spend 22% more time their workfow is siloed and has on non
More than half of marketing leaders surveyed said their workflow is siloed with disconnected processes. Unsurprisingly, this is correlated with negative outcomes, including more time spent on non-core tasks and reduced ability to meet deadlines and fulfill objectives and goals. The percentpie o aprketini lepders who report their workfow or shippini content pnd cpappiinss is ‘siloed with disconnected processes’ Strongly agree 22% Moderately agree 33% Sl5g4tly agree 19% Sl5g4tly d5Bagree 1L% Moderately d5Bagree 6% Strongly d5Bagree 3% The percentage of marketing teams who meet their deadlines ‘almost always’ Agaooeooakfoo eaaoe slooe 13% Ds agaooeooakfoo eaaoe slooe 39% Total 20% The percentage of marketing teams who meet their objectives and goals ‘almost always’ Agaooeooakfoo eaaoe slooe 17% Ds agaooeooakfoo eaaoe slooe 35% Total 22% 13 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
3. Time sucked into admin work and internal meetings In Stephanie Hartgrove’s previous role as VP of Global Communications at Baker Hughes, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, she was passionate about being a part of “figuring out how to make energy safer, cleaner, and more efficient for people, for the planet, and for the sake of future generations.” When the company made a commitment to achieving net-zero operating emissions by 2050, a lot had to change across the company and its communications. Put simply, Stephanie didn’t have time for the hours in meetings and on non-core tasks that, this report shows, marketing leaders face daily. “We were spending so much of our time on what I call the ‘work around the work’. We were meeting about meetings. That left us no time to think strategically or see gaps in our plans,” Stephanie told Airtable. Stephanie Hartgrove, VP of Global Communications at Baker Hughes Anecdotally, marketers enter their careers fueled by a love of creative problem solving, a knack for storytelling, and a curiosity to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to emerging trends and technology. There is also a strong link between engagement and how employees connect to a company’s mission, with research from Gallup finding “67% of millennials are engaged at work when they strongly agree that the mission or purpose of their company makes them feel their job is important”. Our data, however, suggests a daily deficit in inspiring, impactful activities. We asked respondents how they spend their time and, on average, marketing leaders spend 10 hours a week on non-core work (defined as: administrative work and meetings that don’t directly contribute to deliverables and goals) and this increases to 12 hours per week at companies with more than 5,000 employees. We also found marketing leaders spend an average of 12 hours per week in internal meetings that are not customer facing. 14 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
Only 1/4 1# 1 Kn 4 of the hrs/wk work week Marketing leaders spend an Is the amount of time marketing ‘Strongly agree’ they have the time average of 10 hours per week leaders spend in internal they need for creative collaboration. on non-core tasks. This jumps to (not customer-facing) meetings. 12 hours per week for leaders at companies with more than 5,000 employees. Only 1 in 4 1 in Report that in a typical week they’re Believe they spend too much time able to work distraction-free. on status checks and updates. The percentage of the work week marketing leaders spend on non-core tasks (administration, meetings, etc. that don’t directly contribute to deliverables or goals) 0% none of my time is spent on non-core tasks 1% 1% to 9% 3% 10% to 19% 26% 20% to 29% 36% 30% to 39% 2L% 40% to 49% 9% 50% or more 0% 15 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
The number of hours marketing leaders spend in internal meetings (not customer-facing) every week 0 hours 0% 1 to 4 hours 6% 5 to 9 hours 33% 10 to 14 hours 33% 15 to 19 hours 20% 20 to 24 hours 6% 25 to 29 hours 2% 30 or more hours 0% The average number of hours marketing leaders spend per week on non-core tasks, by company size 500 to 999 9 1,000 to 4,999 10 5,000( 1, Total 10 The average number of hours marketing leaders spend per week on non-core tasks, by job level Senior Manager 10 Director 10 VP or General Manager 10 Executive or C-level 11 Total 10 16 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
CMOs are paid approximately $47,900 the more time they spend on non-core work. a year for non-core work This tracks: If team leaders have to consult multiple sources to understand project statuses, the time In this study, we defined “non-core work” as wasted in the weeds quickly adds up. administrative work and meetings that don’t directly contribute to deliverables and goals. Considering the average CMO salary is $175,340 per year in the U.S. (at the time of writing), you would expect the time spent on such work to decline as leaders ascend the ranks. Instead, we saw a slight increase among VP and C-suite level respondents (26.2% and 27.3% of the work week respectively), compared to senior managers and directors (24.9% and 25.4% of their work week). All told, companies are paying their most senior marketers nearly $50K annually to do work they themselves consider non- essential. “This meeting could have been an Airtable update” There is a strong correlation between the number of sources a team must consult to get up-to-date information on marketing activities, and the amount of time that team spends in meetings and on non-core work. The more sources a team has to consult, So how did Stephanie change the way her team at Baker Hughes spends their time? She pulled their calendar and deliverables into Airtable, giving her team full visibility across planned activities in real time. This removed the need for redundant check-ins, and gave her team the headspace to rally her team around the company and industry transformation. Most importantly, Stephanie’s team is now free to do the creative work that made them want to work in communications in the first place. They’re spending more time storytelling, humanizing the Baker Hughes shift toward carbon neutrality and helping customers and employees feel a key part of the global solution. 17 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
Section 3 Signals of success. Now that we’ve covered the biggest risk 1. Revenue goals are correlated with more efficient, factors for marketing teams—what do more engaging, work processes successful marketing teams have in common? • Marketing teams that are responsible for revenue We cross-referenced various identifiers— goals have more visibility into campaign ROI for example teams who are responsible for 2. No code adoption shapes more successful revenue, teams who report high workflow marketing teams efficiency, and teams who use no code—with specific outcomes, including the ability to • 59% of respondents who use no code said that the achieve goals, meet deadlines, and surpass adoption has made them more adaptable to changing revenue targets. We found: business needs 3. Teams who invest in workflow efficiency see greater consistency in driving results • Teams with ‘moderate’ to ‘very efficient’ workflows are over 5x more likely to ‘almost always’ meet their objectives/goals 1. Revenue driving teams are high achievers This correlation might be due to pressure—revenue- (and are more likely to prove it) based targets may force teams into better workflows and operational practices. It could also suggest that when Marketing teams who are responsible for organizational marketing is aligned with company-wide strategic goals, revenue goals show significant operational improvements, this calls for greater collaboration with the rest of the compared to teams who are not aligned with revenue- org, which in turn necessitates clear communication of based outcomes. roles and responsibilities, cross-functional workflows, These teams use fewer sources of information to keep and reliable sources of data. Or, it may be the other way up to date (9 sources vs. 11 sources). They are more likely around—higher-functioning teams are able to put the to use no code tools than teams who aren’t responsible systems in place to measure and drive ROI. for revenue (83% vs. 69% respectively). And marketing teams with goals tied to revenue are 46% more likely to report efficient workflows, compared to 27% of non- revenue-driving teams. 18 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
Revenue-driving teams report better • Marketing teams that are responsible for revenue outcomes for employee engagement goals spend a smaller proportion of their work week on non-core tasks (24% vs. 31% among teams that From reducing time spent on non-core tasks, to proving are not responsible for revenue goals) the impact and value of their team, marketing leaders targeting revenue goals are more able to unlock factors • Marketing teams that are responsible for revenue shown to bolster employee engagement. goals have more visibility into campaign ROI (33% compared to 16% among teams that are not responsible for revenue goals) • The most common pain points for revenue-focused marketing teams are gaps in skills or expertise; these teams also struggle the least with inefficient workflows and inflexible marketing tools The percentage of marketing teams with ‘very or moderately high’ visibility into campaign and content ROI Responsible for meeting revenue goals 33% Not responsible for revenue goals 16% Total 29% The main factors inhibiting marketing teams’ success. Rklpoiltiokg-oag kk tig No gaklpoiltiokg-or To mo akvki-kgnomol akvki-kgnomol 4v% 43% 4y% Lmcrgo-gmotni ki gwt hgo hkagnor or mark g km l 52% 29% 4v% Gmpgtiglrtoolgoagkepka tlk 39% 4#% 4'% Lmcrgo-g t kolgnm mg og mrkgl am kntcgnkctltoil 32% 4#% 35% Iifketiokeioir-lkar-atkinolg mark ting oool 35% 3'% 34% Iil-Rctki eot t kngaklo-acklgFi-nnk Cgl mGW 25% 45% 29% Iil-Rctki gwoarfowl The takeaway is clear: Teams looking to improve operational efficiency and employee engagement might start by aligning their team to organizational revenue goals—whether it becomes a forcing function to drive better operations, or a way to reduce time spent on non-core work. For teams who already are responsible for revenue goals, leaders might double-down on visibility into metrics, or goal-based prioritization. 19 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
2. No code adoption is changing how teams at work. How did Heather solve this problem? She work, leading to better outcomes leveraged no code—a way of working that marketing leaders are increasingly likely to adopt. Making movies is tough. Just ask Heather Mayer, marketing manager at Panavision, a leading provider of camera equipment that supports the production of movies and screen plays around the world. Heather was spending 20 hours a week researching movie release dates to keep her team on track as deadlines continued to change—especially through the heights of the pandemic. “You can imagine through 2020 and 2021, movie release dates were changing all the time and it was impossible for a human who is just looking things up on IMDB to keep track,” Heather told Airtable. Heather is not alone. This report found the average marketing leader spends 10 hours per week on manual, operational tasks, and the ability to build truly custom solutions for very specific needs not only saves time, but can also lead to greater satisfaction and happiness Heather Mayer, Marketing Manager at Panavision The culture you create when you solve your Defining no code for marketers own problems No code and low code tools enable innovative workers to build workflows, create assets, and analyze data with No code enables greater empowerment and autonomy little or no coding required. The same way that Canva at the edge of organizations, letting folks solve unique enables anyone to create beautiful designs, Airtable problems in a way that makes sense for their teams— enables marketing teams to connect and automate work. without relying on technical expertise. This report shows that more and more marketing teams are adopting no If you’re new to the concept of no code marketing, code technologies and, in doing so, they’re transforming discover more about how it benefits employee their culture to one of adaptability and agility. engagement and how to introduce it at large Specifically, 59% of respondents who use no code organizations in this Airtable blog post featuring said that the adoption has made them more adaptable Panavision and Scott Brinker. to changing business needs, and 54% cited tool customization, made possible through no code, as a key benefit. Without no code tools, managing ever-changing data points and marketing conditions typically leads to more manual work. With no code, those closest to the work are empowered to build and evolve processes so the organization can quickly adapt to change without breaking stride. 20 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
Thdsbd df lsoefrd s ns deolsdexdfsd ds foos ls ns os oods oools Greater ability to adapt to changing business needs 59% Ability to customize tools to suit your needs 54% Easier cross-departmental collaboration 47% Increased problem-solving at the individual contributor level 43% Faster ship time for content and campaigns 39% Reduced reliance on IT 34% Cost savings 23% No code is a trend for a reason With marketers battling increasing workloads and an This year’s report found 8 in 10 marketing teams are ever expanding scope of responsibilities, teams need using no and low code marketing tools currently, and flexible solutions—ones that allow them to build and 80% of leaders expect their teams’ use of no code to evolve workflows to keep up with shifting demands. More increase over the next 12 months. As a comparison point, specifically, teams need to be able to dictate how they last year’s report found 33% of marketers were using no work with technology, not the other way around. code tools on a regular basis. But marketing teams using no code report benefits even “I don’t think it’s coincidental that marketers are beyond adaptability and customization. This research embracing no code right now,” Scott Brinker told found a strong correlation between marketing leaders Airtable. “These technologies allow you to adapt much using no code and those who reported less manual work, more quickly to changes in the environment… and those more efficient workflows, and the ability to make data changes do not seem to be slowing down.” driven decisions. The percentage of marketing work that is done manually Do not use no code/low code tools 45% Use no code/low code tools 36% Total 3 % 21 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
The percentage of marketing leaders who report it’s ‘slightly, moderately, or very easy’ to make real-time, data-driven decisions. Do not use no code/low code tools 66% Use no code/low code tools 82% Total 79% Thiepiafici gielfem akiifcgeli diaweohleaiplaieihifaeolakflowe aieieffici Do not use no code/low code tools 55% Use no code/low code tools 79% Total 7 % No code makes tool adoption less painful On average, the marketing leaders we polled use 20 marketing tools on a regular basis. This year’s report found that marketing leaders added an average of 8 tools to their stacks in the past 8 months, and 82% of marketing leaders expect the number of tools their teams use regularly will increase over the next 12 months. 20 8 82= The number of tools marketing Number of tools leaders added of leaders expect the number teams use on a regular basis. in the last 12 months. of tools to increase oEer the next In 2021, this number was 26. 12 months. According to the Marketing Technology Landscape, and focus their budgets on iterative growth, rather than there are 9,932 marketing technology solutions currently huge transformations. What’s already changing, however, available, up 24% from 2020. How organizations navigate are the types of tools marketing teams are adopting, this landscape will likely change as inflation continues to and how they’re connecting data and information across rise—we expect teams to consolidate tools to cut costs; these tools. choose flexibility over rigid, use-case-specific solutions; 22 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
In 2021, 60% of leaders reported that the process for This trend is likely correlated with the rise of no code keeping data up-to-date between tools was somewhat adoption, possibly because the drawbacks teams or completely manual. This year, that number dropped typically face with tool expansion (duplicated data, more to 46%, and there was a 35% increase in automation manual work, deeper siloes) are mitigated by the ability usage between 2021 and 2022. Most tellingly, teams who to automate and customize workflows—key reported automate data synchronization are almost twice as likely benefits of no code usage. to meet their objectives and goals, compared to teams who sync data manually. Manual vs. automated: The process for synchronizing data across marketing tools Completely manual to equal parts manual and automated Mostly automated to completely automated 2021 Marketing Trends Study¹ 60% 40% 2022 Marketing Trends Study; 46% 54% Manual vs. automated: The percentage of marketing teams who meet their objectives/goals ‘almost always’ Process for synchronization of data across marketing tools Mostly manual to equal parts manual and automated 15% Mostly automated to completely automated 28% To solve the problem, Heather built an automation on Airtable that updates timelines across all Panavision workflows, calendars, and databases whenever a movie release date changes. In doing so, she saved 20+ hours a week, reimagining how her team spends its time—not only to increase productivity, but also to elevate the entire employee experience. 23 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
3. Strong workflow efficiency helps teams spreadsheet. These teams all work in different physical connect data and surpass goals locations, so the lack of a single source of truth for photo shoot information created a considerable disconnect Korin Thorig, VP of Creative Operations at West Elm, across teams.” didn’t go into marketing because she’s passionate about workflows. She’s focused on the bigger picture, asking user-focused questions like: “How does our product make people more comfortable at home?” She found herself up against a major tension in her workday, balancing high-impact work and manual, mundane tasks. So Korin set out to reimagine West Elm’s customer experience and transform their content for the digital age. “But there was one glaring problem. Every single one of [our] images moves across seven different departments, each with their own workflow, before it ever reaches a customer,” Korin told Airtable. “Managing this scope of content across photo production, merchandising, warehouse, samples teams, and more required lots of manual work. The data for each photo (the SKU, shot list, including color, dimensions and angles) all lived in a basic Korin Thorig, VP of Creative Operations at West Elm This report found that Korin’s experience isn’t isolated, The role of workflow efficiency in marketing with only 11% of marketing leaders reporting that their A workflow is a repeatable, multi-step process that helps workflow for shipping content and campaigns is ‘very teams meet their goals by activating the right people, with efficient’, and more than half (51%) of marketing leaders the right information, at the right time, across the right reporting that their teams’ workflow for shipping content systems. The best workflows give marketing teams the and campaigns is outdated or tends to be ad-hoc. ability to stay aligned yet flexible at the team level—so content, comms, creative, campaigns, and all of marketing can drive shared impact while working the way they want. Hcodapoktnagidltpntondopntdnstaodntpan’docokfcond codnsammagid cgntgndpgnd pampaign Vcry iicfficie 1% Modcraecly iicfficie 8% Slighely iicfficie 1=% Slighely cfficie 33% Modcraecly cfficie 31% Vcry cfficie 11% 24 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
Teams investing in workflows experience Connecting data great results 50% of teams with ‘very efficient’ workflows report connecting marketing data from different sources is ‘very If you’re looking to address deeper team challenges, easy’ (vs. 13% of teams with inefficient workflows), and you might not start with your workflows. But this 38% of teams with very efficient workflows report turning report suggest that teams who do invest in workflow raw marketing data into actionable insights is ‘very easy’ efficiency also report better outcomes across a range (vs. 9% of teams with inefficient workflows). of indicators: Reaching objectives Teams with ‘moderate’ to ‘very efficient’ workflows are over 5x more likely to ‘almost always’ meet their objectives/goals (34% vs. 6% of teams with very to slightly inefficient workflows). And they’re twice as likely to meet their deadlines. Exceeding revenue goals Teams with moderate to very efficient workflows are over 3x more likely to exceed their marketing revenue goal (42% vs. 14% of teams with very to slightly inefficient workflow. To solve West Elm’s inefficiencies, Korin mapped their workflows and automated the most repeatable parts. Every photo and its metadata is automatically uploaded into Airtable, which contains the Stock Keeping Unit (SKU), detailed dimensions, color, angles, and the photography shot list for each image, and connects that information across related workflows and teams. Now, instead of manual data entry, Korin’s team spends its time getting creative. By investing in workflow efficiency, West Elm’s creative operations team can not only produce more than 1,000 images each week, but they’ve also connected seven departments, pulled 250 people into true cross-functional collaboration, and saved 85 hours every work week. 25 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
Thiwpiriictagiwlfwmarkitfcgwtiamswohlwmiitwthifrwlbjiitfvis/glalsw75-100%wlfwthiwtfmi,w irlsswrifiriciidwofthwolrkflowieificie Vfverfif effitrtorolfghtlerfif effit 6% Slfghtlerf effit 18% Modfvatflerf effitrtorofverf effit 34% Total 22% Thiwpiriictagiwlfwmarkitfcgwtiamswohlwmiitwthifrwdiadlfcisw75-100%wlfwthiwtfmi,wirlsswrifiriciidw ofthwolrkflowieificie Vfverfif effitrtorolfghtlerfif effit 12% Slfghtlerf effit 15% Modfvatflerf effitrtorofverf effit 28% Total 20% Thiwpiriictagiwlfwmarkitfcgwtiamswohlwixiiididwthifrwmlstwriiictwrivicuiwglal,wirlsswrifiriciidw ofthwolrkflowieificie Vfverfif effitrtorolfghtlerfif effit 14% Slfghtlerf effit 25% Modfvatflerf effitrtorofverf effit 42% Total 31% 26 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
Conclusion As a marketer today, you might be focused This report shows that you’re not alone. So many of on driving revenue; exploring new channels; us are also struggling to balance the pull of creative and positioning your company in terms of work, with the necessity of operationalizing how we ‘do social impact in addition to your value offering. marketing’. More than anything, this year’s report shows You’re likely battling to keep employees that ‘now’ is critical—teams are reporting higher stress, engaged, and competing to attract an ever- greater workloads, and more limited impact than ever more-distracted customer. Almost certainly, before. If this isn’t a sign of pending burnout, what is? you’re managing a great number of tools, and The path to success is also becoming clearer. Teams you’ve got more data at your fingertips than who are aligned with company-wide strategic goals are you know what to do with. more likely to have efficient workflows and to produce better outcomes. Marketing teams who are investing in workflow efficiency are much more likely to achieve their goals (and, just as importantly) show how their results contribute to overarching initiatives. And this report shows that more and more marketing teams are adopting no code technologies and, in doing so, they’re transforming their culture to one of adaptability and agility. If you’re a marketing leader hoping to motivate your team to strive higher and stretch themselves creatively, it’s time to focus not on the work your team is doing, but how your team is achieving that work. Companies like Equinox, West Elm, Baker Hughes, and Panavision are reimagining their teams’ workdays, and connecting their marketers’ time and energy. The results that come from this effort extend far beyond the work itself. 27 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
Methodology The study includes 300 respondents who are ‘senior manager’ and above in their marketing department. Company size and marketing Primary responsibility department size in marketing Company size Primary responsibility 500 to 999 29% Marreting operations 19% Marret research 3% 1,000 to 4,999 35% Corporate marreting and communications 13% Demand/lead generation 2% 5,000 to 9,999 Brand management 24% 11% SEO/SEM 2% 10,000 to 24,999 7% Product marreting 10% Creative 2% 25,000+ 5% Social media or infuencer marreting 7% Program management and e~ecution 2% Total 100% Event planning 6% Analytics 2% Advertising 6% Strategy 2% Marreting department size E~ecutive management 4% Website management 1% 1 to 9 1% Channel management 4% Other 0% 10 to 19 3% Content production and editorial 4% Total 100% 20 to 49 11% 50 to 99 23% Age and job leve l 100 to 199 30% Age Job level 200 to 299 14% 300 to 399 8% 25 to 40 43% Senior Manager 19% 41 to 56 51% 400 to 499 4% Director 37% 57 to 75 VP or General Manager 30% 500 or more 6% 6% E~ecutive or C-level 14% Total 100% Total 100% Total 100% Industry 28 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report Industry Agriculture 2% Retail and eCommerce 21% Education 4% Mining and E~traction 0% Chemical 4% Consumer Goods and Services 11% 4% Wholesale 0% Healthcare and Life Sciences Manufacturing 10% Government and Public Sector 0% Financial Services and Insurance 7% Technology (Hardware, Software) 4% Nonproift 0% Telecommunications 6% Transportation 4% 0% Other Automotive 5% Professional and Technical Services 3% Media, Entertainment and Publishing 5% Total 100% Travel and Hospitality 3% Construction 5% Utilities and Energy 3%
Company size and marketing Primary responsibility department size in marketing Company size Primary responsibility 500 to 999 29% Marreting operations 19% Marret research 3% 1,000 to 4,999 35% Corporate marreting and communications 13% Demand/lead generation 2% 5,000 to 9,999 Brand management 24% 11% SEO/SEM 2% 10,000 to 24,999 7% Product marreting 10% Creative 2% 25,000+ 5% Social media or infuencer marreting 7% Program management and e~ecution 2% Total 100% Event planning 6% Analytics 2% Advertising 6% Strategy 2% Marreting department size E~ecutive management 4% Website management 1% 1 to 9 1% Channel management 4% Other 0% 10 to 19 3% Content production and editorial 4% Total 100% 20 to 49 11% 50 to 99 23% Age and job leve l 100 to 199 30% Age Job level 200 to 299 14% 300 to 399 8% 25 to 40 43% Senior Manager 19% 41 to 56 51% 400 to 499 4% Director 37% 57 to 75 VP or General Manager 30% 500 or more 6% 6% E~ecutive or C-level 14% Total 100% Total 100% Total 100% Industry Industry Agriculture 2% Retail and eCommerce 21% Education 4% Mining and E~traction 0% Chemical 4% Consumer Goods and Services 11% 4% Wholesale 0% Healthcare and Life Sciences Manufacturing 10% Government and Public Sector 0% Financial Services and Insurance 7% Technology (Hardware, Software) 4% Nonproift 0% Telecommunications 6% Transportation 4% 0% Other Automotive 5% Professional and Technical Services 3% Media, Entertainment and Publishing 5% Total 100% Travel and Hospitality 3% Construction 5% Utilities and Energy 3% 29 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report
About Airtable Airtable enables teams to build workflows More than 300,000 organizations, including more than that modernize their business processes. half of the Fortune 1000, use Airtable’s visual, flexible tools to customize workflows that meet their exact needs, whether they’re creating blockbuster movies, designing running shoes, distributing life-saving vaccines, or anything in between. Learn more Contact sales 30 Airtable 2022 Marketing trends report