Posts tagged: Small Business Marketing
Okay folks, the countdown to 2012 clock is in fast-forward mode. You have about 30 days, not counting holidays. You want to end 2011 on a high note, but first you have to cram in all the to-do work. Do you feel like you’re up to your, you know, in alligators?
If you do, then you need to read this post by Dan Kennedy.
Selected as the November article for GKIC [Glazer Kennedy Insiders Circle] members, Dan shares his take on what to do when the alligators are advancing.
We’re all in the same club: #MsTech on Facebook, a small group of women technology enthusiasts in Chicago. While we help each other out every day, it’s not often that we get to hear each other speak.
Thanks to Hope Bertram, Social Media Masters Summit organizer, I got to hear three of our members, all small business owners, talk about what big brands can learn about social media from small business. Disclosure: Because I participated in the summit’s seven day video challenge [more on that in another post], my admission ticket was complimentary.
Here are my notes with apologies in advance to the speakers for any inaccuracies. Read More…
How’s your economic attitude these days? For many small business owners, the economy is looking up. According to Discover®‘s Small Business WatchSM
• 25 percent of small business owners reported they will increase spending on business development in the next six months, up from 22 percent in October
• 33 percent believe the economy is getting better, up from 31 percent in October and the highest since May
• 19% of small business owners expect an increase in holiday sales, up from 11% last year
And, the subset direct-to-consumer segment of small business owners registered a confidence index of 89.6 in November, up from 83.6 in October, and 65.6 in August. According to the report, the November index for this segment is the second highest recorded since October 2007.
Did you know 22 million U.S. small business owners with less than five employees produce more than a trillion dollars in annual receipts?
The Discover Small Business Watch is a monthly index that measures the relative economic confidence of this group. The Watch is based on a national random survey of 750 small business owners.
Thanks to The Business Ledger, which is where I found this report.
The statistic that jumped out at me?
In 2011, one in four small business owners will increase their business development spending.
How do you manage and measure your business development marketing plans? Do you have to invest more to get more?
Not necessarily – it’s invest in the right payoff and get more. Sometimes it’s invest less, get more – especially if the company is currently investing in marketing that costs more money than it makes.
It’s that time of year when we’re meeting with our clients to go over 2011 business development plan results. What are we working on? Building communities that develop relationships – and business.
How does building a community network fit into your 2011 business development plans?
Image Credit: Happy businessman provided by shutterstock.com, a Wired PR Works photo supplier.
Assignment: Talk about how to do business on LinkedIn Challenge: in 10 minutes or less.
Result: How to Grow Business in 3D on LinkedIn: Digitally, Directly and Dynamically
Program: Social Media panel at Integrated Marketing Summit Chicago
Panelists: Aaron Goldman, Blagica Bottigliero, Brad Kleinman and Tony Bombacino of Restaurant.com
It was an honor and a pleasure to present with them all. Blagica took us behind the scenes at Edelman to talk about community. Brad shared what’s new on Facebook, a presentation that could be updated every week. Tony talked about listening to customers and gave examples of how his company manages customer service requests. Aaron has a new book coming out – Everything I Know About Marketing I Learned from Google – and is someone to watch. Thanks to Aaron for organizing and moderating our panel and to Shawn Ellege for bringing Integrated Marketing Summit to Chicago.
Here’s my presentation . . .
What do you do to grow your business digitally, directly and dynamically?
I’ve been looking for this number for years. So, I had to make it up. It turns out my number was low.
Small Business Marketing Budget as a Percentage of Gross Revenue
According to Marketing Sherpa, Small organizations, small business, spend 11% of gross revenue on marketing. I said: 5-10%.
Medium organizations of 100-1000 employees spend 9% and larger organizations spend 6%.
From the report. . .
This chart reflects the economies of scale more so than it does aggressive marketing spending by smaller organizations compared with larger counterparts.
For companies of all sizes, a decline in revenue has resulted in marketing budget reductions and a shift to more cost-efficient digital tactics, such as email, search and social media. Organizations that have been required to stretch every dollar during this recessionary period are getting more mileage from these new media tactics. It is somewhat surprising that the capital intensive industrial/manufacturing sector is budgeting nearly the same share of revenue on marketing as the higher-margin and typically more marketing-aggressive business technology sector. For additional research data and insights about B2B marketing, download and read the free Executive Summary from MarketingSherpa’s 2009-2010 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report.
QUALIFIER . . .
For those of you [like me] who want to know who answered this question: 2631 marketing professionals
Because we work with companies who want to optimize their marketing spending, I’m wondering what’s in the 11% that small business organizations spend on marketing. When you add up your marketing budget do you include salaries, promotions, design, content development, advertising, training?
Stretching dollars is important for any business. Although integrating social media may appear to be cost-efficient in terms of time and investment, it’s only effective when the strategy matches the business objectives. Three times in the past week people commented [complimented!?!] me on my strategic social media approach. What makes the way we work with clients so different? The way we work is more about communications and relationships. Social media? That’s only a small piece of design. Small, but huge, when designed correctly.
What do you think? How much does your company spend on marketing? How does social media fit into your business objectives? Thanks for sharing your thoughts!