Although many marketers are obsessed with using social media to interact with clients, a new study finds that marketers and small businesses aren’t seeing eye-to-eye when it comes to the marketing technique.
According to a new report from Bredin Business Information (BBI), although marketers are increasingly using online marketing to target clients, it is not the way most small- and medium sized businesses prefer to receive information.
Stu Richards, CEO of BBI, said that while businesses are increasingly using online marketing as a cost-effective way of targeting clients, SMBs are somewhat behind the curve in using the tools.
"Marketers are clearly reacting to the difficult economy by using offline tactics much more selectively. They are also moving online aggressively, to reach SMBs efficiently and learn how to get the most from new media opportunities," said Richards. "However, our survey of SMBs indicates that business owners are not nearly as enthusiastic about many online formats for business purposes – such as social networking – as marketers are."
But it doesn’t appear that marketers plan to cut back on their online marketing.
One recent study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP found that search engine marketing (SEM) grew almost 11 percent in 2008 with the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) forecasting that search engine marketing (SEM) spending will grow to $26.1 billion by 2013.
