Compare your 2011 EMC Marketing Plans
In last month’s EMC Business Bulletin, we posted a poll of how EMC industry marketers are planning to spend their 2011 dollars. And although we did not receive enough responses to be statistically valid, true to our word that we would give you a benchmark this month, here are the results of a recent study of how other business-to-business companies plan to spend their 2011 marketing dollars.
In November 2010, BtoB magazine surveyed 426 companies supplying business customers, including DuPont, IBM, Motorola and Avaya. You can buy the full report, but here are the highlights, some of which may surprise you:
· After two years of cutting, 52% plan to increase their spend in 2011, and only 7% said they were cutting spend this year
· The top goal for 2011 was customer acquisition (70%), followed by brand awareness (18%).
· The majority of respondents will increase spend by 10% or more, and one-quarter will increase budgets by more than 20%.
· 78% of marketers plan to increase their online budgets in 2011, and 44% will also raise spending on events.
· Print spending will also increase this year for 19% of respondents. Motorola is quoted as “making heavy use of vertical trade magazines” to reach its enterprise and government markets.
· At Avaya, Paul Dunay, global director of services and social media, comments, “I thought we over rotated last year toward digital, so this year we rotated back toward more print.”
· Many marketers reported, “online (media) playing an ever more important role.” IBM Corp.’s, VP of corporate marketing, John Kennedy, says, “It allows us to be much more targeted…” Kennedy commented that this year “IBM will double or triple the number of virtual events ….” in which it participates.
· B2B companies also are increasing their use of social media in 2011, with 68% now using it for marketing. This is an increase from 53% in 2010, and 45% in 2009. The most quoted uses for social media include brand building (80%), thought leadership (54%), lead generation (47%), and customer feedback (41%).
· Hiring will also be up, with 35% of respondents planning to add marketing staff this year. Only 3% plan to cut staff.
Still Planning the Most Effective Way to Use Your 2011 Marketing Budget? Get a free customized EMC Market Analysis for your company from Interference Technology. Simply click below, tell us which electronics markets and job titles you want to reach, which geographies, and what EMC products / services you sell. Within 48 hours, we will send you a brief customized report showing how many EMC buyers we can reach for your company.
References
BtoB’s 2011 Outlook: Marketing Priorities and Plans, http://www.btobonline.com/section/%20researchreports223Maddox, Kate. “Online gets bulk of increased marketing budgets.” BtoB Magazine. 17 January 2011 http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110117/FREE/301179981#seenit
