Online marketing news and resources.

If a recent econsultancy survey of over 1,000 companies around the globe is anything to go by, the marketing migration online surges forward, with results showing that in 2010 if you’re offline then you’re off grid too!

Web savvy companies and organisations are opting to up their budgets in favour of the big buzz promo activities of social media, mobile marketing, email marketing and SEO. Two in five (41%) of those businesses surveyed say they will decrease spending on print media during the year ahead.

Research indicates that 66 per cent of companies will be increasing their online marketing spend, and a further 30 per cent stating that they will maintain the same budget levels in this area. On average, digital marketing currently accounts for 24% of overall marketing spend.

Estimates forecast that this increase in investment will fuel a 17 per cent surge in digital marketing spending this year, as marketing departments migrate budgets from print and traditional broadcast channels.

As a consequence, organisations will be looking to overhaul functionality and develop website design to cater for the newest messaging platforms, ie. Smartphones such as iPhone, and Netbook. Opening up website accessibility and allowing the widest possible visitor engagement is one of the single most important shifts in the customer relationship model in the last ten years of the web.

The move from offline to online is now in full swing as companies actively seek to measure direct sales conversion increases, site traffic and improve overall marketing ROI. It should be noted that the reputation of brand identity, is becoming a more significant driver of the migration to digital marketing, especially within social media.

More significantly, 70 per cent plan to increase their social media budgets using web agencies to engage with audiences on Facebook, Twitter and other networking sites. A commonsense approach, as according to survey findings, the biggest obstacle to online investment is a general lack of understanding of how the marketing channels work! Just under half (48%) cite this as the key reason, which prevents more money being invested in this area. Other perceived drawbacks were availability of time, resources and necessary latest skillsets.

Business is recognising that it is essential to engage web professionals who bring their considerable experience and expertise in delivering fully optimised web design and results driven search engine and email marketing.