Yesterday, Small Business Trends discussed a study about where small business owners plan to spend their money in 2010. More than 25% said they would not cancel their health care if given a public option. On the marketing side was some interesting data worth taking a look at.
- 74.1% will increase their email marketing budget
- 68.3% will increase their social media spending
- 23.8% will avoid search engine marketing
- 54.2% will not spend any money for banner advertisements
- 79.6% will not run TV ads
- 72.7% will be invest in radio advertising
Small Business Trends suggest that the major increase in social media spending signals that small business owners are becoming more familiar and comfortable with social media tools. 35% of all surveyors said they were planning on increasing social media advertising “a little” while 33.3% planned on increasing their spending by “a lot”. Social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter have revolutionized the way small business owners can reach out to a targeted demographic almost instantly. To learn how to utilize Facebook for your small business, check out our Small Business Guide to Facebook.
Most Important Tools for Small Business Owners
One of the most telling questions in the survey was what tools will be most important for small business in 2010. The top four tools were: Search Engine Marketing, Email Marketing, Public Relations, and Social Media.
What about you? Where will your small business invest more money this year? Where will you cut back?