According to the results of a recent survey of small businesses of under 500 employees by VerticalResponse, Inc, 74.1% of respondents plan to increase their use email marketing and 68.3% will increase
their use of social media in 2010. Only 3.8% of respondents do not plan to use email marketing in 2010, which indicates that the channel continues to demonstrate value to small businesses.
Small Business Plans For Social Media in 2010 (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube; %
of Respondents) |
Plan | % of Respondents
(rounded) |
Increase a lot | 33% |
Increase a little | 35 |
Stay the same | 11 |
Cut down | 2 |
Cut
all | 1 |
Not planning to do | 18 |
Source: VerticalResponse Inc, November 2009 |
Conversely, the
channels that respondents plan to use least in 2010 are television and radio advertising. The majority, 79.6% are not planning to use TV, and 72.7% of small businesses will not use radio
advertising.
The results also highlight that small businesses are wary of channels such as online banner advertising and search engine marketing. 54.2% of all respondents stated they won't
do online banner advertising in 2010, and just 23.8% of respondents won't do SEM such as Google, Yahoo and Bing next year.
Small Business Online Banner Advertising Plans for 2010 (% of Respondents) |
Plan | % of Respondents (rounded) |
Increase a
lot | 8% |
Increase a little | 15 |
Stay the same | 18 |
Cut
down | 3 |
Cut all | 2 |
Not planning to do | 53 |
Source: VerticalResponse Inc, November 2009 |
Janine Popick, VerticalResponse CEO and founder, says "... small businesses continue to allocate
portions of their budget to... email and social media, despite the downturn in the economic climate... (but) marketers (still) need to help small businesses to see the value of integrating search
engine marketing... into their campaigns."
Among key findings, the report notes that:
Social media and email marketing spend continues to rise in 2010 as small businesses see the
value of these low-cost options:
- Well over two-thirds of respondents report that they plan to increase their use of email marketing and social media in 2010
- Email
marketing continues to prove its worth to small businesses, as 96.2% plan to use email marketing in 2010
- Plans reported for 2010 indicate the email marketing industry will continue
to thrive next year, with 38.9% businesses of 1-10 employees and 34.1% of businesses with 11-100 employees planning to increase their email marketing by a lot in 2010
- Small
businesses are getting more comfortable with social media, when reporting marketing plans for 2010, 35.1% of all respondents say they plan to increase their use of social media by a little
and 33.3 % plan to increase it by a lot
Plans to spend on search engine marketing (SEM) and online banner advertising for the next year showed a marked difference between the two
mediums:
- Over half of all respondents stated they won't do online banner advertising in 2010, versus just 23.8% of respondents won't do SEM such as Google, Yahoo
and Bing next year
- Almost a quarter of small businesses of 1-10 and 11-100 employees won't do search engine marketing in 2010. Of the businesses who are using this medium,
only 4% of businesses with 1-10 staff and 3.3% of businesses with 11-100 will cut this channel or together or cut it down slightly in 2010
- A large portion of businesses do not plan
on online banner advertising in 2010, represented by 56.6% of businesses under 11 staff and the 48.2% of businesses with 11-100 employees not planning on banner advertising
- Online
banner advertising spend did not increase much over 2009, with only 4.5% of smaller business increasing this by a little in 2009, and 11.4% of businesses with 11-100 reporting the same. Just
6.1% of businesses with 11-100 employees reporting they increased their online banner advertising spend by a lot over the past year, and just 2.7% of businesses with less than 11
staff.
According to the study, the most important tool for small businesses to succeed in 2010 is search engine marketing, while email marketing, public relations and social media cited
as crucial for success.
- 23.8% of all small businesses reported that search engine marketing was the tool most needed for their business to succeed in 2010.
Services Most Needed By Small Business to Succeed (% of Respondents) |
Service | % of Respondents (rounded) |
Search engine marketing | 24% |
Advertising | 22 |
Web/Graphic design | 21 |
High speed
Internet | 11 |
Accounting | 8 |
Other | 7 |
None | 6 |
Source: VerticalResponse Inc, November 2009 |
The survey responses represent the heart of the
small business community, with over three-quarters of respondents indicating that their company has between 1 and 10 employees. This category includes a number of sole proprietor businesses indicating
that entrepreneurs continue to flourish despite the economic climate. The remainder of the respondents included 19% who have between 11-100 employees and just 4.4% of respondents with 101-500
employees.
Please visit VerticalResponse here for more information.