Nearly half of a typical B2B marketing budget is allocated to web site upgrades and maintenance, and email marketing according to a recent survey of 80 U.S.-based B2B marketers. The study sponsored by the Business Marketing Association (BMA) found marketing initiatives among these companies were prioritized and budgeted as follows:
| 23% | Web Site Upgrades & Maintenance |
| 19% | E-mail Marketing |
| 12% | Social Media, primarily LinkedIn and Twitter |
| 10% | Video, podcasts, webinars |
| 8% | SEO |
| 7% | Pay Per Click advertising |
| 6% | Display advertising |
| 5% | Mobile |
| 5% | Affiliates |
Suzy Kedzierski, Associate Producer, Spotlight On – the National Public Television Show, and Founder of Marketing Communications Ink comments:
Interesting stats – but where is money for trade shows, lit & collateral, PR/white papers, and so on?
Response: Download the full study results at
http://www.marketing.org/files/What_Works_Where_2013_USA_FNL.pdf
The study did not include questions regarding trade shows, lit & collateral, PR/white papers — but rather focused on online marketing.
Matt Migliore, Director of Content, Grand View Media Group comments:
It has been my experience that integrated marketing programs (print, web and e-media) deliver the best results. Our advertisers who employ a 360-degree approach of this sort are able to cover all of the elements in the traditional marketing funnel … awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty, etc. Optimizing the message for each channel is equally important. It is always interesting to see how certain messages/campaigns outperform others.
Response:
Matt, I completely agree. Website owners struggle to provide quality content to lure prospects into completing online forms for access to eBooks, catalogs, whitepapers, presentations. However, quality publications like Flow Control magazine and http://www.flowcontrolnetwork.com consistently attract people who want to keep current on technologies used to move, measure and contain liquids, gases and slurries. Subscribers to these publications have identified themselves to be quality prospects for companies who service their needs. Any company that attempts to generate the breadth and depth of information provided by publications like Flow Control in an attempt to attract their own, independent list of subscribers/prospects takes on a Herculean task. I agree successful marketing incorporates both a partnership with quality media in addition to producing their own blogs, newsletters, and email communications.