For our monthly panel of local business managers, we asked several questions about the Presidential candidates. Who would be best for small businesses? Will the election outcome have a bearing on small businesses? Will your advertising and marketing budgets be impacted? The results might surprise you... then again, they may not. This 5-page report is being made available exclusively to subscribers.
We’re at a critical juncture in media history, one that is redefining the landscape so quickly that we’ve obviously reached a tipping point. We’ve surveyed 7,228 SMBs and it’s difficult to examine the marketing intentions of that many local businesses and not arrive at the conclusion that a tipping point has been reached. The pace of change is accelerating. Anything involving traditional media channels is now considered expensive, difficult and risky; anything involving digital is seen as inexpensive, easy and low-risk.
Companies at the local level have begun spending vast amounts of money on the basic underlying services needed to support their digital marketing. Companies will spend over five times as much on digital marketing services than they will on digital advertising - costing them $501 billion this year.
Banner ads and search engine advertising aren’t enough anymore. Small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) are snapping up a smorgasboard of services, from basic website hosting to SEO, social media and reputation management. This 17-page report takes a deep dive into the phenomenon of the Internet’s transformation from an advertising medium to an advertising utility.
Local businesses have arrived en masse at the Social Media cocktail party. The sluggish economy has constricted their ad budgets, and posting messages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter not only feels good, but also feels free. But it’s not. This report takes a deep dive into the attraction of social media to small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) and gauges their current levels of spending, forecast to double in 2012 and again in 2013.
Local media companies looking for greener pastures have turned to Main Street shops, hoping to find gold. In our survey of 2,872 small and medium size businesses (SMBs), we found that they plan to increase their ad budgets 4.5% this year, but their online budgets 29%. The biggest gainers: email and social media advertising, including spending on their own websites. While 86% of SMBs reported having a website last year, that’s expected to go to 91% in 2011 – meaning there are very few left without a web presence.
Are small- and medium-sized business owners changing their spending habits? Are they abandoning traditional media for the Internet? Is the recession a tipping point for their ad spend?