The majority of small and medium-sized businesses will either increase their digital marketing budgets or keep them the same in 2011, according to a new survey released by Zoomerang in partnership with GrowBizMedia.
The survey results came from a sample of over 750 SMBs, the vast majority of which have 1-25 employees. More than half (55%) of respondents reported having a marketing budget of $1,000 or less.
Forty-five percent said they had Websites, a finding that indicates that many SMBs still have some catching up to do in the digital space. Of those that have Websites, 80% of companies use them for “general information” about their business, indicating that SMBs are not yet taking full advantage of the full potential of the Web.
Most businesses either plan on spending the same amount or increasing their marketing budgets next year, especially for Websites, email, direct marketing, social media and, somewhat surprisingly, print media.
Only 3% plan to decrease spending on their Websites next year, and the same percentage expected to spend less on email as well. Although SMBs are still spending on print advertising, that was the area expected to decrease the most next year, with 7% of respondents saying they planned on decreasing their print advertising budgets in 2011.
Not surprisingly, social media is playing an increasingly pivotal role in the marketing efforts of smaller companies, as free or low-cost tools like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn continue to provide significant reach for many of the businesses using them.
The full report can be downloaded here.
Do you plan on spending more or less on marketing next year? Are you still have a budget for non-digital channels? Let us know in the comments.
