News

January 29, 2010

Three-quarters of small firms to increase e-marketing spend in 2010

Three-quarters of small businesses are planning to increase the time they spend on online marketing this year, research from private bank Kleinwort Benson has found.

The survey of 450 entrepreneurs also found that businesses will be focusing their e-marketing strategy on social networking websites – with 42 per cent planning to use LinkedIn and Twitter.

Kleinworth Benson’s head of entrepreneur initiatives, Derek Wright, said that e-marketing can be an affordable solution for small firms on a tight budget.

“Businesses’ operational budgets have been reduced due to the recession and firms are recognising that using social media and other forms of online marketing are very cost-effective ways to get customers and suppliers to engage,” he said.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s (CIM) head of communications, Ray Jones, said that small firms cannot afford to ignore the increasing importance of social media.

“Anyone in business who ignores social networking channels does so at their peril,” he said. “It’s vital to use these tools to get feedback from customers and react quickly.

“The CIM’s own marketing trends survey last year showed clearly that e-marketing is taking over from traditional methods,” added Jones. “This is being driven by the added return firms can get from customer relationship management [CRM] systems. When firms use online marketing to reach customers, it’s much easier to capture their information and run a more targeted campaign.”

The founder of marketing consultancy Inspired Business Marketing, Lucy Whittington, said that use of social networking sites should be part of a broader e-marketing strategy.

“Social media works if it is used properly, but it has to be part of a wider e-marketing strategy and firms must have measurable objectives,” she said. “For example, firms should use sites such as Twitter and blogs to give people free information, then direct them to their website and have a registration box for them to sign up to their email list.

“It’s really important to use free web analytics tools to track where people have come from,” said Whittington. “Every time a business gets an email or a phone call, they should ask where the person saw their details to see if their e-marketing strategy is giving them a good return.

“Online marketing can help firms maintain customer relationships ready for a time when customers have more money to spend,” she added.

• For more information on creating an e-marketing strategy, visit the IT & e-commerce section of the Business Link site