(Wireless News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
A survey of business-to-business marketers indicated that the migration
of communications budgets from traditional media to online has
accelerated to the point where nearly half of all spending, 47 percent,
is spent on online marketing techniques today.

The survey, conducted jointly by Hearst Electronics Group and Goldstein
Group Communications (GGC), was conducted via email during August and
September, with b-to-b marketing executives throughout North America,
it was reported.

"This type of data reveals best practices among business marketers at a
time of tremendous flux," said GGC President Joel Goldstein. "The sense
of urgency to move to online marketing has been felt by leading
marketing organizations for some time now, but the extent to which
budgets have been re- defined is dramatic. While traditional media
still play a role in building a balanced program, clearly online
spending for webcasts, search engine marketing and generating online
content are now seen as the primary drivers of branding and lead
generation for most companies." Goldstein noted that it's likely the
increased pressure for program measurability and accountability in 2009
budgets is also a factor in pushing programs to more online spending.

"The survey's goal was both simple and straightforward," said Hearst VP
Publishing Director William Barron. "Identify how companies are
allocating dollars, what's working and, most importantly, why. The most
advanced marketers today build balanced programs that incorporate
multiple points of contact with their targets, from print to online to
shows to direct. The survey reinforced that budgeting shouldn't be a
search for the 'magic bullet' but instead must follow a disciplined and
proactive strategy."

While the survey queried marketing executives on sales channels
strategies, barriers to growth, and other 2009 plans, the survey's main
conclusions centered around budget patterns for marketing
communications expenses.

"When web development, search engine marketing and webcasts are
combined, marketers today are spending 47 percent of total budgets on
online tactics," said Goldstein. "This includes online video and social
media, which are very small portions of the budget today but are
expected to grow rapidly during the next few years."

"Traditional media spending on print advertising is the single largest
program in the budget for an important reason," notes Barron. "Research
from all the main trade publishing companies, including Hearst, Reed
and the online firm Techinsights, shows that prospects spend a majority
of their time in print when researching products and suppliers. The key
point for marketing today is that it is an 'AND' not 'OR' world,
meaning that customers use both print and online tools."

Part of the reason marketers are so willing to devote such a large
portion of their budgets to online may be tied to lead quality. The
single best source of leads, they report, is their web site, at 24
percent, followed closely by search engines at 19 percent. While one
might expect that high spending for online tactics would lead to strong
lead quantity, this question dealt instead with a marketer's source of
their BEST leads. Online and trade shows, at 15 percent, appear to be
the most important sources of quality leads. "In this environment, many
budget choices in 2009 will be based on what's 'nice to have' versus
what we 'have to have.' Programs that are proven to generate the
highest quality leads, and that are easiest to track to a lead or sales
conversion, will end up as the winners," said Goldstein.

Search engine marketing currently consumes 11 percent of budgets, when
including organic as well as pay-per-click programs. Barron notes the
importance of building strong brands carries through to Google and
Yahoo! initiatives as well. "The value of strong brand recognition can
be found typically in your company's own server logs, the database that

identifies what words or phrases people have typed in to Google or
Yahoo! in order to find your site," he explains. "The dominant phrase
is likely to be your company's own name or product names. While ideally
you're building search engine visibility to reach new people who don't
know you, the approach still must be centered around balanced
brand-building so the market knows your name and you carry some level
of visibility in your space."

Direct marketing is still a player in b-to-b spending, at 12 percent
total, evenly split between email and direct mail marketing. Trade
shows continue to represent a large portion of marcom budgets at 17
percent, Goldstein noted. "While trade shows are certainly among the
most expensive tactics employed, and while shows have enjoyed a modest
growth spurt from 2002 to 2007 in traffic and revenues, we had expected
to see more trimming in that portion of the budget, as senior level
executives and buying decision-makers continue to curtail their trade
show attendance for many industries," he said.

Also in traditional marketing, 11 percent of budget is spent on print
materials, meaning that most marketers have concluded they can't live
by online pdfs of brochures and data sheets alone. Printers can take
heart that marketers still see a role in printed literature and
catalogs for the b-to-b sales process. "One of the other areas of
inquiry is managing marketing on a global scale," said Goldstein.
"Companies today are so tied to overseas markets, which presents a
challenge to marketing executives who must coordinate a unified message
worldwide. We wanted to measure whether decisions on messaging and
budgeting remain with U. S. headquarters, or have dispersed to other
areas of the world."

In this survey, two thirds of revenues come from outside North America
for these companies, with 20 percent coming from Europe, and 19 percent
from Asia. North America remains the center, though, for generating
marketing materials and messaging: 42 percent report all creative
originates at U. S. headquarters, while another 30 percent report these
decisions are made "mostly" at U. S. headquarters. The pattern holds
for budget and spending decisions as well, though slightly less so.
Some 43 percent say budgeting decisions are made completely at U. S.
headquarters, with another 20 percent saying "mostly" in the U. S.

For demographic purposes, 79 percent of survey respondents carried a
marketing or sales title, with another 15 percent as CEO/President.
One- quarter of survey respondents were from large corporations with
revenues of $151 million or greater; nearly a third, or 31 percent,
were from smaller marketers with annual revenues at $10 million or less.

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))

((Distributed on behalf of 10Meters via M2 Communications Ltd -
http://www.m2.com))
((10Meters - http://www.10meters.com))

Copyright ? 2008 Wireless News

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