Announcing the Twilio Segment 2022 Growth Report

Twilio Segment is excited to share the findings of our second Growth Report, an annual survey of 1,300 marketing and CX decision makers on the tactics and strategies they’re using to drive business growth.

Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, “growth at all costs” was the mantra for businesses in almost all industries. And for close to 2 years, this approach was working. Double and triple-digit growth became the baseline, and businesses invested accordingly, predicting that this level of growth would be the new normal.

But one thing came back from this year’s survey loud and clear – that the “growth at all costs” mindset is most definitely over. 

In the face of record inflation and rising interest rates, businesses are having to pivot to radically new economic circumstances, and have seen that growth at any cost is neither efficient nor scalable.

However, despite the unfavorable market conditions, this year’s report underscores that growth still matters, albeit in a different form. What has changed, it appears, is that the bar for what “growth” looks like is radically different. Unit economics, profitability, and efficiency are the new north stars.

To better understand how businesses are adapting to these conditions, we turned to our 1,300 respondents. Here’s a quick rundown of what they shared.

Businesses are preparing for a hard landing

With volatility in the global economy, businesses are preparing themselves for every eventuality. 93% of businesses have already started to plan for a recession, refocusing their workforce, budgets, and business strategy around efficiency. 

MarTech budgets are declining

The growth in marketing budgets is slowing as economic headwinds strengthen. 63% of respondents expect to decrease spending on marketing technology in the coming 12 months, with the goal of operational efficiency and cost savings.

Technology consolidation marches on

Speaking of operational efficiency, 51% of companies report that they are consolidating or simplifying their marketing tech stack in the next 12 months. A “growth at all costs” mentality has resulted in accelerated digital adoption, with businesses utilizing more technology platforms than ever before. But this adoption has come at a cost, both in time and money, something businesses are seeking to redress.

Businesses are doubling down on what works

In a ‘flight to safety’, businesses are leaning into the channels that have clear and attributed ROI. While experimentation is still happening, for most businesses, tried and true channels like email and SMS remain the most popular engagement channel.

Data is the next frontier of business growth

Despite the cloudy economic outlook,  a silver lining started to emerge from respondents. By investing in and leveraging data at every part of the customer journey, businesses are quietly confident they’ll be able to weather the current economic climate, and whatever might be on the horizon.

To see the insights in full, head this way to read the report. 

Or, join us on October 13 for our event series, Driving Efficient Growth at Scale. Featuring industry leaders from companies like Google, Snap, and the New York Times, we’ll discuss what comes next after the “growth at all costs” era.