ot? One of the key distinctions may be the propensity to look for a silver lining in a cloudy economic climate.
Among survey respondents, 52 percent intend to “introduce new products/services to tap into new market opportunities.” Meanwhile, 19 percent indicate that they are “selectively investing now to position for growth as the economy improves.”†
Further analysis reveals that companies expecting revenue growth are more likely to have increased marketing spending in 2009, as compared to counterparts that anticipate flat or declining revenue growth. For example:
- Sixty-five percent of small businesses that expect revenue growth reported that they are either spending more or plan to spend more on marketing.
- Thirty-two percent of those that expect flat revenues–and 36 percent of those with declining revenues–are either spending more or plan to spend more on marketing.
†Overall, small businesses are shifting more of their marketing initiatives from traditional media to Web-based tools. E-mail marketing and social media–such as blogs, discussion boards, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube–are increasing in popularity and effectiveness. These marketing tools are often less expensive to use than such traditional marketing options as print advertising and direct mail.
Notably, small businesses that anticipate growth were also more likely to use or planned to use e-mail marketing than other small businesses. Specifically:
- Eighty-two percent of small businesses that are using or plan to use e-mail marketing expect revenue growth
- Eighteen percent of small businesses that do not use or have no plans to use e-mail marketing expect revenue growth
In short, small businesses that currently invest more dollars in marketing are more likely to anticipate increased revenues in 2010. In particular, businesses that spend more on digital marketing–including e-mail marketing–are more likely to be on a growth trajectory than businesses that are not using digital marketing.
SANJEEV AGGARWAL & LAURIE MCCABE are both partners with the research firm Hurwitz & Associates. This story is an edited excerpt of their white paper, Small Business Marketing Health Check.
