These results from a Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) survey show what appear to be some intriguing contradictions and trends:
SMPS Poll Results: Marketing Spending 2010?11
? 55% of participants are spending more this year on brand building
? 45% are spending more on customer relationship management
? 36% are spending more on Internet marketing, marketing research and intelligence, and marketing consulting services
? 72% of poll respondents are spending less on traditional advertising
? 44% are spending less on Internet marketing and marketing consulting services
? 33% are spending less on new service introductions
How does your firm compare?
One member, in sending me these numbers, highlighted what appears to be a dichotomy in red. How could 33 per cent of companies surveyed spend more on Internet marketing while 44 per cent be spending less? The answer, of course, is that both could be happening at the same time. I sense some AEC businesses are cutting all their marketing budgets to the bone as they fight to survive through the recession but others are reallocating resources from traditional advertising (a sharp 72 per cent decline.)
The SMPS Connections report also notes:
The August 2010 CMO Survey conducted by Duke University?s Fuqua School of Business found companies plan to increase their marketing budgets by nine percent. The study also indicated that companies are devoting more resources to nurturing existing customer relationships, including spending on social media, brand building, and integrating what they know about customers into their work.
These trends and numbers of course show what others are doing (especially others who bother to complete or respond to surveys!) Should you rely on the data here to make your own decisions?
Well, obviously if conventional marketing and advertising are still working for your business, don?t stop. But we need to be aware of trends and changes in the marketplace and these numbers show much is in flux with the clear exception that the old approaches are under serious stress.
