Online boosts marketing spend
4 August 09

The latest figures from Clashmedia show that 53pc of marketing budgets for UK, European and US companies have increased in the past year.

This extra budget is being used to fund high-return Online Lead Generation campaigns, with 61 per cent of spend now made online, compared to 51 per cent last year. Some of the main reasons why companies are using these methods more and more include cost-effectiveness, the ability to target prospects, and better ROI.

According to the research, paid search has become less popular, with 12 per cent fewer companies using it compared to last year, while the more measurable and ROI-driven email marketing has increased by 2 per cent. Customers are moving more budget online, because of its cost-effectiveness (72 per cent) and ability to increase the customer base (73 per cent).

One key trend is for organisations to take prospective customers found online and attempt to convert them through offline channels. The two most popular conversion methods remain email/online Transaction (75 per cent) and phone (58 per cent); 70 per cent of businesses are now looking to convert online leads offline - either entirely or in part.