Online Marketing For A Recession

In 2009, online marketing surpassed television marketing spending for the first time ever. Not only is television advertising much more expensive, but it's also less effective and more difficult to calculate. With so many people fast-forwarding through commercials now, it hardly seems worth the $100,000 for a forgettable 30-second-spot. Instead, business executives are favoring the accountability of marketing campaigns online, which feature a number of programs that can demonstrate the success or failure of advertising initiatives. They also appreciate the increased return-on-investment and the fact that the average consumer spends about 30% of their media time online. So the question is not so much whether to increase the online ad budget, but more so -- where to spend it.

The "State of Online Advertising and Marketing" study found that business owners spent nearly 60% of their online advertising budgets on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) -- including both organic and paid. More and more companies find that simply increasing their website's traffic is not enough. They need to gain insightful analytic research that shows them where paying customers are coming from and where dissatisfied customers are going. They also need to look at ways to bring in more targeted traffic that is eager to buy. Most of the Fortune 500 companies allocate 10-20% of their online marketing budgets to conversion optimization services. Another 10-20% goes toward other online advertising methods like social networks, banner ads, pay-per-click, and affiliate marketing and viral videos.

The "2009 Tribalization of Business Survey" found that some of the top online marketing strategies during a recession include: increasing word-of-mouth (38%), improving customer loyalty (34%) and creating brand awareness (30%). Many executives feel this can be best done through the matrix of social networks. However, certain obstacles exist -- like getting people to join, return and stay engaged. To gain the best results, market plans should include partnering up with other vendors, running exciting promotions and contests, offering special perks for participating and giving community members something of value for their time. In addition to these objectives, executives are also placing some emphasis on idea generation (29%) and customer support (23%).

As a business leader, you may be wondering whether to do your online marketing in-house or outsource to a smaller specialized firm. While this decision is entirely a personal one, nearly 40% of businesses are putting people on full-time to plan and implement their social networking strategies. Francois Gossieaux, a senior fellow with the Society of New Communications Research, says that there are still "plenty of companies who do not realize the power of communities, and others who have not yet figured out the proper approach for leveraging communities as part of their business." He adds,"Businesses are truly becoming social again, and companies should look to leverage the collective wisdom of their employees, customers and partners in order to innovate faster, reduce costs, and bolster their bottom lines."