M&A deal making in Q1 2024 rose 2% on the previous quarter, Luma Partners reports. Dialogues about deal-making noticeably increased with adtech and digital content leading the way while martech remained depressed. Deals worth $100m+ continued strong from Q4 2023 showing strategic buyers are still interested in quality acquisitions.
Marketers say their top KPIs are long-term ROI and full-funnel ROI, but 70% plan to increase their performance marketing spend and reduce investment in brand building — a tactic that may not support the long-term strategic goals. There have been significant reductions in ad spend in traditional mass channels like TV and radio as dollars shift to digital channels. Nielsen research shows TV leading the way as a long-term ROI multiplier.
Martech keeps taking larger bites out of marketing budgets: 17.3% last year, 19.9% this year, 23.5% next year, and 30.9% five years from now, according to the latest CMO Survey. This despite barely more than half (56.4%) of current tools being used and nearly half (48.8%) of the survey respondents reporting worse-than-expected results. Oddly enough, marketers rate selecting marketing technologies as the thing they do best.
Google will begin the U.S. rollout of its much-anticipated generative AI search capability this week, with rollout in other countries “coming soon.” Search results include links to information sources but Website owners still worry that detailed answers will result in fewer people clicking past Google to their own websites. From Google’s perspective that’s a feature, not a bug.