A new study released by GetResponse shows that nearly three-quarters of small businesses plan to increase their digital marketing budgets in 2017.
GetResponse commissioned a study examining expected digital marketing investments among 200 small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in 2017. The study, fielded between Nov. 28 and Dec. 1, 2016, also identified the channels most likely to drive spending.
A total of 70 percent of businesses polled said digital/web-based marketing budgets will increase in 2017, and of that group, 30 percent said the budget will “increase considerably.” Only 2 percent of respondents said their budgets would decrease in the upcoming year.
“Digital marketing is vital for SMBs and our survey numbers bear that out,”GetResponse founder and CEO Simon Grabowski said in a press release. “Marketers are investing accordingly, given the substantial return on investment delivered through web-based campaigns.”
Of those who plan to increase budgets, 59 percent said marketing on social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter would primarily drive the growth. Mobile marketing, either app or web-based, was picked by 50 percent of respondents, followed by email marketing at 42 percent.
“Mobile marketing is increasingly important given the surging content consumption numbers across smartphones and tablets,” Grabowski said. “And social media usage has only grown in tandem with mobile consumption, as the most popular platforms are mobile-first. Email, too, has become a mobile-driven activity. Ultimately, mobile is the reason why these areas will drive spend in the new year.”
Other channels that respondents said would drive growth included video production (28 percent), search marketing (26 percent) and content creation and management (26 percent).
GetResponse is an online marketing platform with more than 350,000 customers in 182 countries.