Marketers have taken on more responsibilities since the pandemic, and CMOs are increasingly being tasked with demonstrating markeitng's impact on the bottom line while facing pressures to "do more with less." Along the way, marketers are using more channels, navigating more technology solutions, and managing more product and service partners, according to a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Quad.

One of the biggest changes for marketers has been the number of marketing technology solutions or tools that they’re working with (amid an environment in which the number of available tools continues to expand). The survey of 355 marketing and media strategy decision-makers at midsize to large US brands found that respondents are currently working with an average of 10.8 tools, about double the number (5.2) that they worked with 2 years ago. Looking ahead, respondents expect to be working with an average of 16.3 tools in a couple of years’ time, which would be more than triple the number from a couple of years ago.

Marketers are also dealing with an expanding set of channels. They estimate having managed an average of 7 a couple of years ago, while managing almost 10 (9.7) currently. They expect a big leap in the next couple of years, foreseeing management of almost 15 (14.6) in a couple of years’ time, which would be double the figure from a couple of years ago.

It’s not only tools and channels. As those expand, marketers are likely leaning on more service providers to assist them, though growth in this area hasn’t been as rapid, possibly due to the trend towards in-housing. Currently, respondents estimate working with an average of almost 6 (5.8) marketing product or service providers, up from 4.3 a couple of years ago. Fast forward a couple of years, and they expect to be working with an average of 7.5 product or service providers.

Notably, this survey was also conducted a couple of years ago, in 2021. In that research, respondents were asked to forecast the number of channels, tools, and partners they would be working with in a couple of years’ time (i.e. now). In each case, the actual number today is higher than what was expected, with the disparity particularly large for marketing technology tools. To wit, in 2021, respondents expected to be working with 6.5 marketing technology tools or solutions today, whereas they now estimate working with an average of 10.5 such tools.

Coupled with this rising complexity, marketing and media decision-makers find themselves under increasing pressure. Three-quarters agree that their sales team is counting on their department to fill their pipeline during this economic downturn. Majorities also agree that they’re under more pressure from the organization to establish and maintain the brand presence (70%), bring in new customers/revenue (66%), and deliver key targets for their organization given the recent economic downturn (55%).

Additionally, almost 6 in 10 (57%) agree that since the economic downturn they’ve been tasked with getting more done with a slimmer team, and slightly more than half (52%) have been tasked with getting more done with a slimmer budget.

Finally, it’s not only internal pressures that marketers are facing. Aside from the three-quarters (73%) who say that the pressure to perform at a high level to prevent layoffs/budget cuts has risen, and the 7 in 10 who say that they’re facing increasing pressure from the executive team to hit the goals they set for the year, marketers are also dealing with rising customer expectations. Specifically, fully 9 in 10 (89%) agree that customer expectations for their shopping/purchase experience has increased, and 71% agree that customer expectations for their organization’s brand has risen.

That all amounts to a full plate for marketers today…