There is no doubt by now that social media marketing is creeping into every SMEs mind in the coming year. According to many reports in the last quarter of 2009, social media and email marketing will be the top priorities for SMEs in 2010. There are already a few blogs predicting the marketing trends next year, therefore, I won't be doing the same here.
However, I would like to give you some credible statistics by Strongmail for an industry survey of 1,000 global business leaders. The results will give SMEs an understanding of how they intend to plan their marketing budget for 2010.
The survey results show that:
- 89% of businesses plan to increase or maintain marketing spend in 2010
- 50% of businesses expect customers to spend more; 23% to spend about the same; 8% to spend less
- 69% of businesses plan to increase marketing budget for email; 59% social media; 42% search
- 69% of businesses plan to integrate email and social media in 2010
- 64% of businesses identify increasing awareness as the primary value for social media
The results revealed the top 3 benefits of social media marketing:
- Awareness building (64%)
- Customer loyalty and retention (49%)
- Expanded reach (46%)
Pepsi to Stop Superbowl Ads
The survey results resonate to what Pepsi have announced in December. They will be stopping the Superbowl Ads (ending a 23 years relationship) in 2010 in favor of online marketing (probably social media). You can read the full details here. This announcement gives us a glimpse towards the future of marketing.
What's Next?
Without a doubt, more budget will be poured into email marketing technology and social media technology for 2010. Therefore, SMEs in Singapore who wants to build awareness, retain customers and expand their reach without incurring costly marketing dollars should starting thinking of ways to integrate these two technology into their existing marketing plans.
Related posts:
- 72% SMEs on Social Web, Only 12% Generating Sales A recent survey of 100 Asian SMEs in five...
- Driving Sales With Email Marketing and Business Blogging To meet the sales objectives of your web publishing is...
- What SMEs Can Learn About Botak Jones Social Media Endeavour For those who have been following me on Facebook...