November 25, 2008

Sure, times are tough. We've all got to be smarter with our marketing pennies. However, a McGraw-Hill Research study of over 600 Businesses found that drastically downsizing your ad spend may not be so smart after all. You could be missing out on a rare opportunity to cut the knees out from under your competition. And, if you would like to know exactly what these smart marketers are spending their money on, here are the results of a recent poll of over 400 businesses who responded to the question:

“What three internet marketing tactics will you emphasize in the next 6 months?

1. Search engine optimization (36%, 149 Votes)
2. Blogging (33%, 134 Votes)
3. Pay per click (26%, 107 Votes)
4. Email marketing (22%, 89 Votes)
5. Social networking (Facebook, LinkedIn) (21%, 86 Votes)
6. Blogger relations/blog PR (14%, 56 Votes)
7. Microblogging (Twitter, Plurk, Jaiku) (11%, 47 Votes)
8. Affiliate marketing (11%, 47 Votes)
9. Advertorial (NewsForce, AdFusion) (10%, 40 Votes)
10. Video marketing (7%, 29 Votes)

Sure, number 1-3 are no brainers if you're looking for a smart spend. SEO, blogging, and PPC all optimize your search rankings which brings prospects to your front door. And curiously, #5 makes a ton of sense because it costs nothing to aggressively network on Facebook, LinkedIn and other popular social sites.

Looking to take advantage of the rare opportunity that only a recession can offer? Consider the findings of McGraw-Hill's Research study of over 600 Businesses:

• In 1981-1982, businesses that maintained or increased their ad spend averaged higher sales growth during the recession and in the following 3 years.
  
• By 1985, sales of the businesses that maintained or increased their ad spend during that recession actuall increased sales 256% over those that had cut back on advertising.
  
• Aggressive recession advertisers increased market share 2.5 times the average for all businesses in the post-recession.

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