Marketers Increase Software Spend, But Struggle With Their Tech Decisions
The majority (52%) of marketing decision-makers consider software vendors primarily based on their reputation in the industry.
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Software spending in the marketing industry is set to rise this year. According to GetApp’s 2025 Tech Trends Survey which studied the responses of 1,116 marketing decision-makers across 9 countries, a staggering 79% plan to increase their software investments by at least 5%.
More specifically, marketing software is the top software spending priority among marketers (41%), followed by IT security software (37%) and AI (32%). This underscores the value that companies are placing on the marketing function to support business growth. Consequently, they prioritise investments in this technology over other solutions.
By boosting investments in this area, companies can gain efficiencies in their marketing campaigns, from more focused email marketing and social media planning to more effective SEO and SEM strategies.
Technical advancements are also prompting marketers to act: More than half (57%) of marketing decision-makers identify technological advancements as the most significant external factor influencing their business goals in 2025. In the increasingly competitive digital landscape, marketers may feel compelled to catch the wave.
However, finding and choosing the right software is not always plain sailing. Identifying the right technologies is considered the top business challenge that 39% of marketing decision-makers expect to face in 2025, along with the pressure of finding new customers or clients (39%).
Furthermore, when it comes to choosing the most appropriate system, selecting a suitable technology or product tops the list of issues that marketers (37%) face, as well as security concerns (37%), and compatibility with existing systems (36%).
“Marketers are pressured to choose the right software and prove its return on investment, but the sheer volume of solutions can complicate the software buying process,” said David Jani, analyst at GetApp. “By tapping into how their peers evaluate software, marketing teams can start their search from a more informed and intentional place, which ultimately leads to better purchase decisions.”
How do marketers approach the tech selection process?
When marketing stakeholders were asked more about their software decision-making process, the following trends were noted:
- The majority (52%) of marketing decision-makers consider software vendors primarily based on their reputation in the industry
- Nearly half (46%) rely on their previous experience with a vendor or product
- 44% use customer reviews as a key source of information when researching their initial lists in more depth.
