Local Businesses to Spend 1/4 of Their Ad Budgets on Digital Media This Year

Forecast: local businesses to spend one-quarter of their ad budgets on digital media this year. New research from BIA/Kelsey offers more evidence of the shift in local ad dollars to digital media. Small and medium businesses surveyed by the financial services firm said they plan to allocate an average 26% of their budgets to digital/online media over the next 12 months. Self-serve advertising and promotional tools, including video, social media and search engine marketing, topped the list of the most preferred online channels. How committed a business is to digital media directly corresponds to the age of the business. “Younger businesses spend much more of their ad budgets on digital/online media than their older counterparts that spend more on traditional media,” director of research Steve Marshall says. Nearly half of survey respondents (49%) reported they purchase online advertising themselves, directly from a website, either with or without live operator assistance. More than half (52%) said they use social media to promote their businesses, and 22% said they plan to have a video on YouTube in the next 12 months. “Our analysis is that we are on the verge of a real revolution in marketing platforms that serve small and medium businesses, in particular around digital presence,” says Matt Booth, SVP and program director of the firm’s interactive local media division.