TEAM LEWIS, the global marketing agency, today launched its 6th annual Global Marketing Engagement Index™. The report analyzes the top 300 companies from the Forbes Global 2000 list using a proprietary methodology, the Marketing Engagement Tracker (MET). This study looks at how effectively the top brands are connecting with their audiences.
Since it was launched in 2017, the MET has reported some clear and positive trends. 2022 saw companies becoming more risk-averse, de-prioritizing programs and battling crises. 2023 proved to be another turbulent year. The difference? Brand behaviour. Rather than cutting investment, Forbes Top 300 companies channeled resources into content and engagement. They also focused more on ESG & CSR.
The MET scores rose in three key areas:
- Media went up dramatically from 34.6% in 2022 to 70.1%
- Forbes Top 300 companies shared more original research, including thought leadership, and gained more press coverage.
- Digital Marketing went up from 46.9% in 2022 to 64.8%
- Keyword Difficulty scores increased on average. Top 10 keyword trends and site visit duration improved.
- CSR/ESG went up from 56.0% in 2022 to 68.0%
- In 2022, only 55 companies appeared to mention carbon reduction on their website. This jumped to 239 in 2023.
Despite growth in these areas, signs of vulnerability also emerged in 2023:
- Site Security went down from 79.9% in 2022 to 63.9%
- This section of the MET looks at website vulnerability and risk of cyber-attacks. More external APIs were connecting to company websites in 2023. The higher the number of APIs, the higher the risk of external breaches.
- Website Performance went down from 48.4% in 2022 to 45.9%
- Conversion tracking and tag management fell by the wayside as marketing material creation was prioritized.
- UX remained low at 60.3% (61.0% in 2022)
- Forbes Top 300 companies continued to struggle with ADA compliance. Only 85 websites fully adhered to requirements.
Matt Robbins, VP Insights and Research at TEAM LEWIS said, “We are happy to see increased investment in content and engagement. But alarm bells go off when we look at the drop in website security. With the number of data breaches and cyber-attacks constantly rising, companies need to protect their data. They should be wary of leaving their websites exposed.”
TEAM LEWIS analyzed the top 300 companies from the ‘Forbes Global 2000: The World’s Largest Public Companies’ list. This compilation is an industry benchmark recognized to have an authoritative and trusted methodology.
Download the new Global Marketing Engagement Index 2023 here: https://www.teamlewis.com/globalmet23/
