Digital Marketing Spending Up at Mutual Fund Firms: Study

NEW YORK - Nov. 6, 2013 - PRLog -- Digital media like the web, social networking sites, mobile, and video represent a growing portion of marketing budgets at mutual fund management firms, according to new research from Ignites Distribution Research.

In 2012, digital marketing initiatives composed just 24.4% of the average industry marketing budget. This year, digital marketing is up to 30.4% according to Ignites Distribution Research’s proprietary survey of fund managers. This trend is likely to continue next year and in 2014, marketing executives estimate that digital initiatives will comprise 35.4% of total marketing budgets.

This shift is occurring even as mutual fund providers’ retail marketing budgets are mostly flat in 2013 compared with 2012; 57% of firms surveyed had flat marketing budgets in 2013. Only 21% of firms had double-digit budget increases, and nearly all of those companies were small/boutique firms.

Fund firms are reallocating dollars from traditional retail marketing to digital initiatives. And more firms are beginning to transition to a "digital first" mentality, where digital is integrated into the fabric of the marketing organization.

“The move to digital signals that marketers are becoming progressively more adept at using technology to reach customers, but more importantly, to engage with customers online,” says Jesse Mark, senior research analyst at Ignites Distribution Research and report author. “Such digital engagement is a skill that direct fund providers have mastered, but it remains a struggle for many intermediary-distributed fund providers that historically relied on wholesaler interaction.”

An important aspect of digital media use is the ability to track online behavior, which allows fund firms to better track the effect of marketing efforts. Most retail mutual fund providers now calculate the impact of marketing on total sales, and fund firms increasingly calculate the return on investment (ROI) of marketing. “Measuring results is easier with digital than with traditional marketing, and that’s crucial as fund companies expect a clearer return on marketing investment,” says Mark.