27 MUST-HAVE CHARTS TO GUIDE YOUR MARKETING IN 2012 FACTBOOK: This document was downloaded by: [email protected]Republishing or redistribution is prohibited.
1. 27 MUST-HAVE CHARTS TO GUIDE YOUR MARKETING IN 2012
FACTBOOK: This document was downloaded by: [email protected]
Republishing or redistribution is prohibited.
2. Contents at a Glance INTRODUCTION 1 PLANNING AND BUDGETING 2
SOCIAL MEDIA 7 CONTENT MARKETING 12 SEARCH 15 EMAIL 17 MOBILE 20
LOCAL AND SMALL BUSINESSES 23 ABOUT MARKETINGPROFS 29
3. 12012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTRODUCTION At
MarketingProfs, weve gathered our best trend-spotting, info-packed
charts to help guide your marketing in 2012. Youll know what to
keep an eye out for as you plan, budget, and navigate the world of
marketing. The following 27 charts in this handbook offer data and
statistics to guide your decision-making: Planning and Budgeting
Forrester: Interactive Spending to Reach $76.6B by 2016 Corporate
Marketers Shifting Spend to Branded Content IT, Marketing More
Critical to Business Strategy in 2012 Customers Demanding Corporate
Responsibility CMOs: Budgets, Hiring Up; Optimism Down Social Media
Social Media for Beautiful Things: Pinterest Soars Blogs Top List
of Social Media Investments for 2012 Booz: Adaptability Is Key for
Social Media Success Google+ Pages Gaining on Facebook Among Top
Brands LinkedIn Audiences Highly Enaged, Active in Groups Content
Marketing 2012 Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends
B2B Marketers Moving Toward Online Content Strategies IT Pros Value
Thought-Leadership Vendor Content Search Three Search Mindsets
Identified Search and Email Still Rule the Web Email SMBs Missing
Email List-Building Opportunities Marketers to Integrate Social
Media and Email in 2012 Flash Sale Emails Boost Transaction Rates
Mobile Web Traffic via Mobile Up 102% Mobile Email Audiences Up 28%
Mobile Content Usage Still Growing Local and Small Businesses Local
Business Marketing: Daily Deals Up, Facebook Ads Slowing Small
Businesses to Ramp Up Mobile, Social Marketing in 2012 Brands to
Focus on Localized Content Marketing Small Businesses Moving
Aggressively to Online Marketing To Save Money, Fewer Buying the
Brands They Want Most WOM, Forums, Blogs Top Influencers of SMB
Buyers
4. 22012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PLANNING AND
BUDGETING Forrester: Interactive Spending to Reach $76.6B by 2016
US advertisers are expected to spend nearly $77 billion on
interactive marketing by 2016as much as they now spend on
TVaccording to a new report by Forrester Research: By 2016, search,
display, mobile, email, and social media together are expected to
constitute 26% of all ad spending, up from 16% in 2011. The
forecast anticipates declines in group-buying offers, due in large
part to increased clutter in the space as ad exposures grow. Search
will continue to dominate spending, growing from $18.8 billion in
2011 to $33.3 billion in 2016. Investments in display advertising,
such as contextual listings, static image ads, and rich media ads
(including pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll online video), are
forecast to grow at a 20% CAGR and reach $27.6 billion by 2016some
36% of interactive spending. Mobile ad spending is projected to
surpass email and social spending, reaching $8.2 billion in 2016 at
a 38% CAGR. Tweet this: Forrester: Interactive spending expected to
reach $76.6B in 2016, up from $34.5B in 2011 [Charts]
http://mprofs. com/27charts
5. 32012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PLANNING AND
BUDGETING Corporate Marketers Shifting Spend to Branded Content
More than three-quarters of US corporate marketers say they are
aggressively (16%) or moderately (62%) shifting spending from
traditional marketing to branded-content marketing, according to a
study, based on a survey of 100 US corporate marketers, by the
Custom Content Council (CCC) in partnership with ContentWise: The
annual study found as follows: Total spending on branded content
rebounded in 2011, to its highest level ever: $1,913,609 per
company on average, among those surveyed. The biggest driver of
branded-content growth from 2010 to 2011 was publications budgets,
up 68% year over year (YOY). The top-ranked reason that marketers
cited for using branded content is to educate their customers
(49%), followed by customer retention (26%) and enhancing brand
loyalty (14%). Tweet this: Total spending by US corporate marketers
on branded content at its highest level ever [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
6. 42012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PLANNING AND
BUDGETING Marketing More Critical to Business Strategy in 2012
Despite continued business volatility, global executives plan to
increase corpo- rate spending (albeit cautiously) in
2012particularly the areas of IT (informa- tion technology) and
marketingaccording to a survey conducted by Doremus and the
Financial Times: Across most budget categories, more companies plan
to increase rather than decrease spending over the next 12 months.
As in previous years, IT is the area most likely to record
increased spending (37%), followed by advertising and marketing
(29%). Fewer companies plan to decrease investments in IT (15%) and
marketing (19%) in the coming year. Fully one-quarter (25%) of
companies are increasing spending on R&D (research and
development), while 15% are upping their spend on green investments
(vs. 16% decreasing spend in that category). Tweet this: Global
execs plan to increase corporate spending in 2012. Focus is on IT
and Marketing [Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
7. 52012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PLANNING AND
BUDGETING Customers Demanding Corporate Responsibility Consumers
worldwide are demanding a higher level of social responsibility
from the companies they engage with, and most are using the power
of the purse to press those demands, according to a study by Cone
Communications: Among surveyed consumers worldwide, 81% say brands
have a respon- sibility to address key social and environmental
issues beyond their local communities. 31% say companies should
change the way they operate to align with greater social and
environmental needs. 30% say companies should support larger issues
with donations and time and use corporate muscle to advocate for
change. 20% say companies should support larger issues with
donations and time. Only 19% of consumers say companies should have
a limited (13%) or no role (6%) in the communities they serve.
Tweet this: 81% say brands should address social and environmental
issues beyond their backyards [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
8. 62012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PLANNING AND
BUDGETING CMOs: Budgets, Hiring Up; Optimism Down Despite a lack of
confidence in the overall US economy, CMOs are planning to increase
spending on all forms of marketing over the next 12 months,
particu- larly the share of budget allocated to social media
marketing, according to The CMO Survey: Surveyed CMOs report their
companies are planning to increase spending on marketing hires 7.2%
on average over the next 12 months. Various marketing categories
are expected to grow more robustly over the next 12 months,
including spending on new product, and new service introductions is
expected to climb 10.4% and 6.6%, respectively. Internet marketing
spending is expected to increase 11.2%, compared with a 1.3%
increase earmarked for traditional media. CMOs plan to allocate
fewer dollars to customer relationship management efforts (6.5%)
and brand building (5.7%) over the next 12 months. Tweet this: CMOs
plan to increase spending on all forms of marketing over the next
12 months [Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
9. 72012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Media for Beautiful Things: Pinterest Soars Social
networking site Pinterest is gaining popularity in the media and
among brands, Experian Hitwise reports. The online pinboard allows
you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the
Web, according to the company. That includes images of food, home
dcor, clothing, and furniture, which users pin onto their pages.
According to Experian Hitwise data: Visits to the invitation-only
site skyrocketed in the second half of 2011, reaching 11.0 million
as of December 17, up nearly 40 times the level recorded six months
earlier. Visitors to the site in the 12 rolling weeks ended Dec 17
skewed female (58%) and between age 25 and age 44 (59%). Pinterest
and the Social Networking & Forums category both at- tract the
greatest share of their visits from California and Texas. But the
Social Networking category as a whole over-indexes on share of
visits from Northeastern states whereas Pinterest over-indexes on
visits from the states in the Northwest and Southeast. The site was
recently named to Time Magazines Top 50 web- sites of 2011,
alongside Google+, Klout, Quora, and Storify, in the social media
category. Tweet this: Visits to Pinterest skyrocketed to 11 million
in 2H11, 40 times more than 6 months earlier [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
10. 82012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SOCIAL MEDIA
Blogs Top List of Social Media Investments for 2012 Many brands
plan to focus efforts beyond the big three platforms (Facebook,
Twitter, and LinkedIn) in 2012, expanding their reach into multiple
social marketing channels, according to a survey from Awareness:
70% of brands say they plan to increase their presence across
social media platforms. 59% plan to boost the frequency of social
content publishing. 50% plan to improve social media management
processes and tools. 45% plan to focus on monitoring social
channels. Tweet this: 70% of brands plan to boost their presence
across social media platforms in 2012 [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
11. 92012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SOCIAL MEDIA
Booz: Adaptability Is Key for Social Media Success Among a list of
12 social media success enablers, the ability to react and adapt
quickly to change is ranked as the most important factor for
succeeding in todays social media environment, according to a
survey of Fortune 500 marketers by Booz & Company and Buddy
Media Research: Among those surveyed, 94% cite the ability to adapt
quickly to change as the most critical enabler of social media
success, followed by having an in-house social media champion
(93%), clearly communicated executive support (90%), a solid
education on social media (90%), and a culture of experimentation
(88%). Applying an integrated approach to social marketing (86%)
ranks sixth among success enablers, followed by the training staff
members who are unaccustomed to social media (83%), a strong PR
capability (80%), unique content thats exclusive to audiences on
various platforms (79%), and the ability to coordinate multiple
service providers (62%). Asked in which areas they are realizing
benefit from social media, Fortune 500 marketers cite brand
building (90%), followed by interactivity (89%), buzz building
(88%), and mining consumer insights (81%). Tweet this: 94% of
Fortune 500 marketers say adaptability is most critical enabler of
social media success [Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
12. 102012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SOCIAL MEDIA
Google+ Pages Gaining on Facebook Among Top Brands More than
three-quarters (77%) of the Top 100 global brands had a Google+
page as of Dec. 19, 2011, up 16 percentage points from the 61% that
did so a month earlier, according to research by BrightEdge
Technologies: 93% of the Top 100 brands, based on Millward Browns
BrandZ Most Valuable Brands for 2011, now have a Facebook page.
Some 16 of the Top 100 brands turned on Google+ pages in the
previous month. Google, IBM, and Vodafone Group have a Google+
page, but no official Facebook page. Marlboro, a Philip Morris
brand, has neither a Google+ nor Facebook Page. Tweet this: 77% of
Top 100 global brands had Google+ page as of Dec. 19, 2011, up from
61% a month earlier [Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
13. 112012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SOCIAL MEDIA
LinkedIn Audiences Highly Engaged, Active in Groups LinkedIn
continues to dominate the executive corner of the social media uni-
verse with a highly engaged member base. 61% of registered LinkedIn
users say LinkedIn is the social site they use most for
professional networking. Nine in 10 LinkedIn users (90%) say the
site is useful to them. Asked how they use the site most, LinkedIn
members cite the following top 5 activities: keeping up with old
friends and contacts, 21%; networking with industry professionals,
20%; networking with co-workers, 19%; job hunting, 15%; and
business promotion, 12%. Professionals priorities do tend to vary
by job level. For example, entry-level professionals use LinkedIn
for job hunting most (24%), whereas fewer top- level (9%) and
middle-management (8%) professionals do. Industry networking,
however, appears to be a top priority for roughly 20% of LinkedIn
professionals, regardless of job level. 35% of LinkedIn users check
the site daily. Another 32% of registered LinkedIn users check the
site several times a week. Even though few LinkedIn users rely on
Twitter and Facebook as their primary professional networking tool
(4% and 22%, respectively), nearly one-half (46%) say they have a
Twitter account and more than three- quarters (79%) have a Facebook
account. Tweet this: 61% of LinkedIn users say it is the social
site they use most for professional networking [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
14. 122012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CONTENT
MARKETING 2012 Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends
MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute surveyed 1,092
marketers in August in the second annual content marketing survey
the two organizations have conducted together. Among their
findings: Some 60% of the surveyed marketers say they plan to
increase spend on content marketing over the next 12 months. On
aver- age, they now spend over a quarter of their marketing budget
on content marketing. Just as the previous year, 9 out of 10 B2B
marketers are using content marketing to grow their businesses,
relying on eight content marketing tactics, on average, to achieve
their market- ing goals. The most popular tactics are
article-posting (79% of respon- dents), social media (excluding
blogs) (74%), blogs (65%), e-newsletters (63%), case studies (58%),
and in-person events (56%). Tweet this: 9 out of 10 B2B marketers
use content marketing to grow business [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
15. 132012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CONTENT
MARKETING B2B Marketers Moving Toward Online Content Strategies B2B
marketers are moving away from traditional marketing tactics toward
online content marketing, according to a report by HiveFire: 82%
now use content marketing in their programs, making it more popular
than search marketing (70%), events (68%), and public relations
(64%). Among surveyed B2B marketers, content marketing is more than
two times more popular than advertising (print, TV, or radio)
(32%). Among B2B marketers, the top 2 objectives of content market-
ing programs are engaging customers and prospects (82%) and driving
sales (55%). Nearly one-half of marketers are focused on educating
the marketplace (44%) and increasing Web traffic (43%). Tweet this:
82% of B2B marketers use content marketing, making it more popular
than search, events, PR [Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
16. 142012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CONTENT
MARKETING IT Pros Value Thought-Leadership Vendor Content
Information technology (IT) professionals say thought-leadership
content is the most useful type of content for them, followed by
analysis and survey and research statistics, according a new study
from IDG Connect: Fully two-thirds (67%) of North American IT
professionals say they find vendor-produced content such as
whitepapers extremely useful or useful. Though 72% of IT
professionals worldwide find vendor- produced content useful, most
prefer localized content that focuses on challenges in a particular
country. In Asia, 74% of IT pros say they prefer localized vendor
content, but 79% say they struggle to find such content. In Europe,
50% of IT professionals say they prefer localized vendor content,
but 54% have a hard time finding it. The main exception is North
America, where demand for localized content is fairly high (56%);
but that demand appears to be largely satisfied, with only 33% of
North American IT professionals saying they struggle to find such
content. Tweet this: 67% of North American IT professionals find
vendor-produced content extremely useful or useful [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
17. 152012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SEARCH Three
Search Mindsets Identified When searching for online information,
people tend to exhibit one of three distinct behavioral search
patterns, according to new research by About.com, which explores
the various mindsets that drive Web search. The three mindsets that
drive search patterns can be characterized as Answer Me, Educate
Me, and Inspire Me, according to the research: Answer Me searches
account for 46% of total searches queries. People conducting such
searches want exactly what they ask for (and no more), delivered in
a way that allows them to get to it as directly as possible. The
top categories in Answer Me search are Entertainment, Fashion, and
Beauty & Style. Inspire Me (28%) searches tend to be fun and
browsy in nature. Such people are looking for surprises, tend to
have open minds, and want to be led. The top categories in Inspire
Me search are Travel and Home & Garden. Educate Me (26%)
searchers want 360 degrees of understanding and multiple
perspectives on critical topics. Such people tend to search until
their goals are achieved, which may stretch over long periods of
time and across related topics. The top categories in Educate Me
search are Health and Finance. Tweet this: 46% of online searchers
want exactly what they ask for (and no more) delivered directly as
possible [Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
18. 162012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Search Search
and Email Still Rule the Web Since 2002, search and email have been
the most popular online activities in the US and remain so today,
according to a report by Pew Research: 61% of online males use
search daily. 60% of online whites use search daily, compared with
57% of African Americans and 48% of Hispanics. 66% of online adults
age 18-29 search daily, compared with 64% of those age 30-49, 52%
of those age 50-64, and 37% of those age 65+. 75% of online adults
with a college degree search online daily, compared with 66% of
those with some college education, 41% of high school grads, and
29% with some high school education. Tweet this: Since 2002, search
and email the most popular online activities in US [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
19. 172012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED EMAIL SMBs
Missing Email List-Building Opportunities Most small-to-midsize
businesses (SMBs) have mastered the basics of organic email
list-building, making use of Web-based sign-up forms and even of-
fering incentives to encourage subscriptions, but fewer than half
use any type of email-to-social collaboration, limiting the
potential of cross-channel marketing, according to a study by
GetResponse: Only 40% of surveyed SMB email marketers say they
provide sign-up forms on every Web page. Only 41% recruit would-be
subscribers via Facebook Pages. Only 44% collect subscribers from
offline sources, such as tradeshows. Tweet this: Only 40% of SMB
email marketers say they provide sign-up forms on every Web page
[Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
20. 182012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED EMAIL
Marketers to Integrate Social Media and Email in 2012 More than
two-thirds of business leaders (68%) say they plan to integrate
social media with their email marketing efforts in 2012, and 44%
plan to integrate mobile with email, according to a survey from
StrongMail: Email marketing (60%) and social media (55%) are cited
as the top two areas for increased marketing spend in 2012,
followed by mobile (37%) and search (37%). Only 18% of business
leaders plan to increase spending on direct mail and tradeshows in
the coming year. A total 64% cite customer loyalty and retention as
the primary benefit of email marketing, followed by awareness
building (51%), driving revenue (44%), new customer acquisition
(38%), and lead generation (B2B) (29%). Tweet this: 68% of business
leaders plan to integrate social media and email this year [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
21. 192012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED EMAIL Flash
Sale Emails Boost Transaction Rates The flash sale is one of the
hottest tools being used today to capture customers attention, and
email is a key driver of such campaigns, according to a study by
Experian CheetahMail: Email generates on average 18% of referral
traffic to websites advertising flash sales, higher than social
media (13%) and search (11%). Among email campaigns studied,
transaction rates for flash sale email campaigns were more than 35%
higher than standard bulk campaigns to the same clients: 0.11% vs.
0.08%. Flash sale emails also generated more actions and
transactions: 74% of mailers had higher transaction-to-click rates
and 67% had higher transaction rates, compared with bulk emails
sent to the same clients. Tweet this: Flash sale emails generate a
35% lift in transaction rates [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
22. 202012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MOBILE Web
Traffic via Mobile Up 102% Some 12.6% of total website traffic was
generated via mobile device in the fourth quarter of 2011, up 102%
from the 6.3% recorded a year earlier, according to the Walker
Sands Quarterly Web Traffic Report: The top smartphone operating
system used during the fourth quarter of 2011 was Googles Android,
accounting for nearly one-half of all mobile traffic to websites.
The reported 4Q11 levels were 3.3 percentage points higher (up 22%)
than the 10.3% reported in the previous quarter. The site with the
smallest percentage of mobile activity re- corded 4.7% of total Web
traffic arriving via mobile in 4Q11. The site with the biggest
percentage of mobile activity recorded 24.9% of all traffic
arriving via mobile during the quarter. Tweet this: Web traffic via
mobile is up a whopping 102% from the 6.3% the previous year
[Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
23. 212012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MOBILE Mobile
Email Audiences Up 28% Some 89.6 million Americans used their
mobile phone to access personal or work email during the
three-month period ended November 2011, up 28% (19.5 million) from
the 70.1 million who did so a year earlier, according to com- Score
Data Mine: In November, more than three-quarters of smartphone
owners (78%) used mobile email. Among all mobile users, (smartphone
and feature-phone users), mobile-email penetration was lower, at
roughly 40%. Most mobile users (64%) now access email via mobile
device nearly every day, and that audience segment registered the
biggest growth over the previous year: 33%. Mobile users who access
email via device at least weekly also grew at an impressive 27%
year over year. Tweet this: 64% of mobile users access email via
mobile device nearly every day [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
24. 222012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MOBILE Mobile
Content Usage Still Growing Mobile content use continued to grow
across all measured types among US mobile subscribers during the
three months ended December 2011, according to data from the
comScore MobiLens service: 74.3% used text messaging on their
mobile device as of December 2011, up 3.2 percentage points (PPs)
from September 2011. 35.3% accessed social media sites or blogs (up
3.8 PPs). 47.5% accessed a browser (up 4.6 PPs). Downloaded
applications were used by 47.6% of mobile subscribers (up 5.1 PPs)
Game-playing was done by 31.4% of mobile audiences (up 2.6 PPs)
23.8% listened to music on their phones (up 2.9 PPs). According to
August 2011 MobiLens data: Facebook was home to the largest mobile
audience among the three social networking sites, attracting 57.3
million mobile users in August. Twitter had 13.4 million mobile
users. LinkedIn came in third with 5.5 million mobile users. Tweet
this: Facebook boasts the largest mobile audience among the top
social networks [Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
25. 232012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED LOCAL AND
SMALL BUSINESSES Local Business Marketing: Daily Deals Up; Facebook
Ads Slowing Google Offers, the group-buying service that launched
in 2011, has quickly gained momentum against rivals Groupon and
Living Social and looks to continue growing in 2012: Some 19% of
local merchants who have offered a group deal have tried used
Google Offers, compared with those who used Groupon (26%) and
LivingSocial (21%). An increasing number (32%) of local merchants
plan to use Google Offers in 2012, whereas the share of those
planning to use LivingSocial is expected to dip to 16%; the use of
Groupon among local merchants is expected to remain flat. 41% of
Groupon and LivingSocial customers say they plan to use those
services again. 66% of those who have used Google Offers say they
plan to use that service again. Before ceasing operations, Facebook
Deals had been used by 22% of the surveyed local merchants who had
offered a daily deal in the past. More than one-half (53%) of those
Facebook Deal custom- ers say they plan to use Google Offers for
their next deal. Tweet this: Google Offers is quickly gaining
momentum; 32% of local merchants plan to use it in 2012 [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
26. 242012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED LOCAL AND
SMALL BUSINESSES Small Businesses to Ramp Up Social, Mobile
Marketing in 2012 Smartphone penetration has reached an impressive
80% in the small- business community, and interest in mobile
marketing is mounting, along with the use of social media,
according to a report by Ad-ology Research: 21.8% of small-business
decision-makers say they plan to dedicate more resources to mobile
marketing in 2012, up from the 12.6% who said so a year earlier.
Facebook is ranked as the social media site most beneficial: 86.8%
of small-business decision-makers use the social networking site
for marketing, and 77.3% say their efforts there are very or
somewhat beneficial for business. Twitter penetration has reached
71.4% in the small business community, and 56.0% say Twitter
marketing is very or somewhat beneficial. Google+ penetration
(64.3%) is already rivaling LinkedIn (66.9%) in the small business
community; 53.2% of small-business deci- sion-makers say their
efforts with Google+ are very or somewhat beneficial, while 51.2%
say the same about LinkedIn. Tweet this: Most small-business
decision-makers use Facebook for marketing [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
27. 252012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED LOCAL AND
SMALL BUSINESSES Brands to Focus on Localized Content Marketing
Engaging local target audiences is a strategic focus for many
brands, according to a study by the CMO Council: 49% of national
marketers surveyed say localized marketing is essential to business
growth and profitabil- ity, particularly as it relates to demand
generation and sell-through of products and services. 86% of
marketers say they intend to look for ways to better modify, adapt,
and localize their marketing content, messaging, and prospect
engagement practices. Major obstacles or challenges to marketing
localization include understanding local market dynamics or vari-
ables (30%), determining the right cost/benefit models related to
spend (24%), and measuring and evaluating campaign effectiveness on
a local level (23%). Tweet this: 86% of marketers plan to better
modify, adapt, and localize their marketing content [Charts]
http://mprofs.com/27charts
28. 262012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED LOCAL AND
SMALL BUSINESSES Small Businesses Moving Aggressively to Online
Marketing Small and midsize companies (SMBs) continue to move
marketing dollars to digital channels, according to BIA/Kelsey:
Digital spending among US SMBs is forecast to reach $16.6 billion
annu- ally by 2015roughly 70% of total SMB marketing budgets. By
2015, SMBs are expected to allocate only 30% of their marketing
budgets to traditional advertising (down from 52% in 2010). The
remaining 70% will be allocated to digital (mobile, social, online
directories, display, and digital outdoor), performance-based
commerce (pay-per-click, deals, and couponing), and customer
retention solutions (email, reputation and presence management,
websites, social marketing, and calendaring/appointment-setting).
SMB spending on traditional advertising will be essentially flat
during the forecast periodfrom $11.8 billion in 2010 to $12.1
billion in 2015a 0.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Overall,
US SMB spending on media, marketing and business solutions will
grow from $22.4 billion in 2010 to $40.2 billion in 2015a 12% CAGR.
Tweet this: US SMB digital marketing spend forecast to reach $16.6B
annu- ally by 2015 [Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
29. 272012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED LOCAL AND
SMALL BUSINESSES To Save Money, Fewer Buying the Brands They Want
Most The US recession affected consumers purchasing behaviors
across various product categories, leading them to increasingly buy
down, or purchase less-expensive brands to save money, according to
new report by comScore. Technology is enabling such price-seeking
behaviors with the Internet cited as the most popular channel for
comparison shopping among every generation except seniors: Internet
(PC-based) is the most popular method of choice for every
generation except seniors: 63% of Millennials (under age 30), 60%
of Gen-X (age 30-44) and 57% of Boomers (age 45-50) use the
Internet for comparison shopping, compared with 50% of Seniors (age
60+). Mobile use is still relatively limited: 15% of Millennials
and 10% of Gen-X consumers use mobile devices to comparison shop.
58% of Seniors use the newspaper to comparison-shop, as do nearly
one-half (47%) of Gen-X consumers. Tweet this: To save money,
consumers buying less-expensive brands rather than the brands they
want [Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
30. 282012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED LOCAL AND
SMALL BUSINESSES WOM, Forums, Blogs Top Influencers of SMB Buyers
Though word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations still have the greatest
influence on purchasing decisions among small and medium-sized
business (SMB) owners, online forums and blogs play a huge role in
the process, tooand a more influential one than advertisements or
consultations with salespeople, according to a new survey from Ivy
Worldwide. When considering future purchases, sales relationships,
mar- keting messages, and green products are less important than
reviews from trusted sources and enhanced features and quality.
Asked to rate the degree of influence that various factors would
have on future decisions to purchase a product/service for their
company, SMBs report the following top 3 triggers on a scale of 1
to 7: Stronger feature than current solution: 6.38 Level of quality
promised greater than current solution: 6:31 A detailed review from
a trusted source illustrating pros and cons of product/service:
6.0. Tweet this: Word-of-mouth has the greatest influence on SMBs
purchasing decisions [Charts] http://mprofs.com/27charts
31. 292012 MARKETINGPROFS LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABOUT
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