Smaller and medium sized companies are increasing their spending on the channel.
A new survey by Local Commerce Monitor, which was conducted by the BIA/Kelsey research firm has shown that spending on mobile marketing is on the rise among small to medium sized businesses (SMBs).
A larger amount of overall advertising budgets is being designated for smartphone and tablet channels.
The mobile marketing report is based on research that was conducted online in a partnership with Ipsos. What it determined was that the average spending among SMBs for smartphone advertising and promotions on that platform was $1,190 over the 12 months prior to the survey. This was a significant increase over the figures from the year before, when the average was $876.
This mobile marketing research is an ongoing tracking survey to monitor spending on the channel.
Called “Local Commerce Monitor Wave 16”, it involved the participation of 600 SMBs that were broken down into two samples of 300 respondents each. The two sample groups were LCM: Core – made up of the companies that had no minimum annual advertising and promotion spending amount) and the LCM: Plus Spenders – defined by a minimum annual spending of $25,000.
On the whole, the results of the research have indicated that one of the most popular places for mobile marketing to occur among SMBs is on social networks such as Facebook. Among the LCM: Core respondents of the survey, 63 percent said that they were using social media as a part of their overall strategies.
Smaller companies have also started to recognize the value of using mobile marketing as a part of their advertising and promoting mix for their products and services. Among the respondents in the survey, 14.7 percent said that they had an optimized website, which was an increase from 2011, when the figure was only 8.7 percent. The most recent report also indicated that 22 percent of the participants had intentions of optimizing their websites for smartphones and tablets within the following 12 months. The report stated that this is a clear indication that SMBs are seeing the benefit of the channel and are making greater efforts to establish themselves within it.
