business owners investing in digital marketing
November 2nd, 2012
Small business owners have used a variety of tactics to ease the pinch of a slow-growth economy, including investing in digital marketing, according to a small business sentiment survey by -Local Corporation (NASDAQ: LOCM), an online local media company.
As small business owners are conserving budgets, they’re also seeking additional value from their advertising spend, which is driving a $5 billion decline in traditional media spend from 2010-2015, offset fully by an $18 billion increase in digital media spend during that same period.
More than half (63 percent) of respondents to the survey are currently investing in digital marketing, and 30 percent are planning to increase their digital marketing spend in 2013.
Additionally, more than half (53 percent) of respondents believe that a website or a better version of their current website is the digital marketing solution that might most help them reach consumers.
In the past three years, the business owners have considered cost savings such as:
» Reducing operating costs (51 percent) » Reducing operating hours (19 percent) » Reducing benefits (16 percent) or salaries (16 percent) » Closing temporarily (11 percent) or permanently (16 percent)
But, the survey found that more than half (56 percent) of participants are willing to make a long-term investment in their business right now, with business development (46 percent) and online advertising (37 percent) topping this list.
More than a quarter (26 percent) of respondents also reflect that customer relationship management has been their biggest marketing challenge in the last 12 months.
Source: Techjournal
Small Medium Business (SMB) Product Bundle - “Launch by Local” (“Launch”) is the company’s new, full-service digital marketing and advertising solution for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Launch is a complete, cost-effective digital marketing and advertising solution designed to help SMBs build online presence, reach new customers and engage with existing ones.
Source: Last quarter-report |