The Asia-Pacific marketing landscape is experiencing early signs of a resurgence, driven by increased spending and a swift embrace of generative AI. Restored budgets are boosting resources, while AI’s growing efficiencies and capabilities are set to deliver exponential impact according to the new State of Account-Based Marketing (ABM) in Asia-Pacific Report, produced by xGrowth in partnership with Media Collateral.
The report, which surveyed 124 senior marketing leaders – chief marketing officers, vice presidents, directors of marketing, and heads of marketing – provides insights into the evolving strategies and priorities shaping the industry landscape for the coming year.
Contributing companies include Salesforce, Intel, Smartsheet, EY and Kyndral.
Spending sentiment shifts, as economic downturn retreats
“After 18 months of budget cuts driven by economic uncertainty, marketers are signalling a return to growth with increased spending planned for 2025. This positive shift in sentiment suggests confidence in the market’s recovery and the vital role marketing plays in driving business success,” said xGrowth’s Managing Director, Shahin Hoda.
- Senior marketing leaders across Asia-Pacific have increased spending in 2024, and indicate they will further increase spending on marketing in 2025.
- 46 per cent of marketing leaders are maintaining their current general marketing spend – compared to 23 per cent last year.
- Only 31 per cent reported a decrease in spending compared to 58 per cent last year.
- 13 per cent have increased their spending, compared to 4 per cent last year.
- For Account-Based Marketing specifically, 43 per cent plan to increase spending compared to 28 per cent at the same time last year.
Generative AI is revolutionising marketing.
“Marketers are leveraging AI tools to create highly personalised campaigns, analyse data in real-time, and boost efficiency – achieving results that were unimaginable just 18 months ago. Initial concerns about legal and security are fading as marketers embrace AI’s potential,” says xGrowth’s Managing Director, Shahin Hoda.
- In 2024, more than 45 per cent of APAC marketing leaders report that generative AI has influenced their ABM strategies – an increase of more than 20 per cent from the previous year (23 per cent)
- Generative AI is increasingly seen as a game-changer for ABM practitioners. In 2024, 74 per cent of respondents believe AI will make their work easier, a more than 25 per cent increase from 2023 (47 per cent.)
- There has been a significant increase in the number who feel it is achieving better results – up from 24 per cent last year, to 47 per cent this year.
- The number who think it reduces costs has jumped from 38 per cent in 2023 to 58 per cent in 2024.
- Legal and data security issues have fallen from 24 per cent in 2023 to 15 per cent in 2024.
Primary and Emerging Use-Cases for Generative AI in ABM
- Generative AI’s role in marketing continues to deepen, with AI-powered content creation, such as blog posts, emails and social media copy taking the lead (70 per cent). Personalisation is another prominent use case (51 per cent). Marketers are also increasingly using generative AI for campaign planning (28 per cent) and data analysis (24 per cent).
Generative AI Adoption Outlook
- 91 per cent of senior marketing leaders expect their organisations to increase the use of generative AI tools in the next two years.
- With only 1.67 per cent expecting a decrease, the data indicates a broad commitment to expanding AI’s role in ABM strategies, positioning it as a key factor in future marketing approaches.
