Your prospects and clients see a huge opportunity in digital. With the latest technology, it’s easier for them to get their messages in front of consumers who are most interested in what they are selling. A new Salesforce report shows how advertisers will allocate their digital marketing budgets this year and where opportunity lies for services sellers.

The planned allocation across digital formats in 2018 will look something like this for the typical marketer:

• Search 33%
• Facebook/​Instagram 25%
• Display 17%
• YouTube 10%
• Other (Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter) 14%

The investment in display is partly linked to digital video. At least 57% of B2B marketers and 51% of B2C marketers have increased spending on digital video in the past year.

The Salesforce research also shows that your clients are interested in using emerging technologies to stand apart from the competition. Here are the percentages of marketers who are already using these tools:

• Smart TV 44%
• Voice-​activated digital assistants 39%
• Wearable devices 36%
• Augmented or virtual reality 32%

These numbers aren’t huge. Over 30% of marketers indicated they plan to start using one or more of these technologies in the coming year. Chances are, they won’t be sure where to start and will reach out to partners for assistance.

About 56% of marketers use internal staff to manage their Facebook campaigns. And 53% do the same for their Google search campaigns. Smaller numbers of marketers turn to internal experts to run YouTube or other video campaigns (49%) and display ad campaigns, forty-​six percent. Analysts report that marketers are relying less on agencies to do this work, because they may want more control or better ‘alignment’ of all marketing efforts. The numbers indicate there is plenty of room for digital marketing services providers to win new business.

In addition to campaign management, marketers are turning to outside sources to help them more carefully target the right audiences. The typical marketer uses over five sources to get to the right prospects. The information they are seeking falls into three broad categories:

• CRM-​based data like email addresses
• Online data
• Demographic data (geographic location, personal interests)

The online data category collected from second parties is expected to grow by over 25% in the next year. Specifically, marketers will be looking for cookie-​based data from other marketers or publishers they have relationships with. Similarly, targeting marketing based on personal interests will grow over 25% in the next two years.

Share the projections made in the Salesforce study with your clients and talk with them about their digital advertising plans for the next 12 to 24 months.