Marketing Trends 2011: The Shift to Online Continues.

Mike Hanbery - 2.2.2011 9:00 AM

B to B marketers are placing more and more confidence in online marketing and less and less in "traditional media."

That's not just an agency with "Web" in its moniker talking. Its the result of a Marketing Sherpa survey, released February 1, 2011.

As the attached graphic indicates, budgets are increasing for Web-based efforts and decreasing for print and broadcast. Direct mail is a wash.

Why? Among our beliefs and observations are:

• We like what we can measure. No tactic is more trackable than Internet advertising.
• Increasingly, our online activities don't exist in silos. As many companies are housing social media within PR, for example, an increase to one budget means an increase to both.
• We are growing more sophisticated in our understanding of how users of the Web move through information. We design email and search campaigns to drive traffic to our Websites, which are being better designed for conversion and to foster social media engagement. 
• Business leaders are growing more comfortable with the Internet as a marketing tool and with rising expectations on their return.
• So far, three different versions of the Yellow Pages have been dropped on my stoop. None have made it inside the house.

What is your business planning to do?

What this Means for Your Business

Sticking with, "what we've always done," is often riskier than taking a new direction. Changes in technology and consumer behavior require adjustments to the ways we present ourselves to the marketplace. It may be time to take another look at your marketing strategy, online and overall.
 

Want to stay on the leading edge?

Webolutions offers a number of opportunities to stay informed on marketing trends so  you can maintain your competitive edge.

• Join Webolutions February 17 for the first in our CEO Webinar series.
• CEOs in the Denver area may also inquire about our quarterly ExecutiveRoundtables or register for our Social Media for Business Meetup group.

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