Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of small businesses intend to increase their investment in social media marketing this year, according to a recent survey from The Manifest. In fact, the findings show that more businesses plan to invest in digital marketing for their products or services than in traditional marketing:
The survey found that most small businesses (89 percent) invest in marketing in one form or another. Thirty-five percent prefer digital, compared to 31 percent who prefer traditional channels.
According to the Manifest, creating your social media campaign gives higher gain for less effort. “Traditional marketing involves print, billboard, direct mail, flyers, TV or radio ads that easily reach large target audiences. Businesses can specify who sees their traditional marketing efforts by distributing and airing advertisements in certain areas and based on specific interest groups, such as who reads a magazine or watches a TV show,” they explain. “Still, traditional marketing has become less mainstream due to cost and delay. While digital marketing has the advantage of sending at the click of a button, traditional marketing takes time to create and distribute.”
Ninety-five percent of businesses surveyed will increase their spending on digital marketing this year. The Manifest sees this as an indication of higher return on investment for digital.
Beyond the 63 percent investment increase in social media strategies for small businesses, 54 percent intend to increase spending on website efforts. Thirty-five percent will increase the amount of dollars allocated to search engine optimization (SEO).
Roughly three quarters (73 percent) of small businesses are already investing in social media, the survey found. That compares to just under half (49 percent) for SEO. This suggests that businesses aren’t finding as much value in SEO compared to other digital marketing channels. Only a third (34 percent) are investing in video marketing, which many have viewed as a major rising force in digital marketing over the last few years. Just 27 percent intend to invest more, although The Manifest notes that video marketing can be “extremely lucrative” for small businesses.
The only digital marketing channel that is currently rivaling social media for small business advertisement dollars is website marketing (also at 73 percent). Email campaigns are still major channels as well, with 57 percent of small businesses investing in them.
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