SMBs to Spend More on Video, Social Networking in 2010

While email continues to be the most popular online marketing channel for small businesses, 28 percent of small business owners recently surveyed said they plan to spend more on online video in 2010, up 75 percent from last year.

This according to a study from Ad-ology Research, a Westerville, Ohio-based marketing and advertising research firm. Ad-ology surveyed an online panel of 1,100 owners of U.S. businesses with less than 100 employees in November. The goal of the study was to analyze the attitudes and marketing plans of small business owners.

Twenty-five percent of small business owners plan to spend more on social networking, the study found, while 21 percent plan to commit more resources to mobile advertising.

Facebook was ranked the most beneficial social network for small businesses, followed by LinkedIn and Twitter. Respondents said the top business benefits of social networking are lead generation, news updates about your industry and the ability to monitor the online conversations about your business.

Twenty-nine percent of respondents plan to increase advertising spending overall, allocating more resources to online, direct mail and newspaper advertising.

The study also revealed that small business owners are generally hopeful about 2010, with more predicting increased sales next year versus 2009, and one in five expressing optimism about the economy.

Other key findings from the study include the following:

• 31 percent of respondents said they don’t use social media because their customers don’t use social media;
• more than one-third plan to spend more time writing whitepapers and e-articles;
• 52 percent plan to devote more resources in 2010 to cause marketing; and
• 42 percent plan to participate in trade shows or conferences.

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