Online advertising and marketing spending will be first time ever be higher than print this year, according to a report published by British research company Outsell.
The report, which is based on a survey of more than 1,000 US advertisers, indicates that marketing managers will spend $119.6 billion in 2010 on online and digital marketing compared to spending $111.5 billion on print.
Companies are expected to allocate money to strategies ranging from search engine keywords to webinars. Overall, US spending on advertising and marketing will increase by a modest 1.2% to $368 billion this year.
“Advertisers are directing dollars toward the channels which generate the most qualified leads and most effective branding. As they emerge from the recession, they need more accountability, and they’re spreading their spending over a widening set of options,” said Chuck Richard, Vice President and Lead Analyst, Outsell.
The authors note that advertisers see their own websites as the generating the highest B2B return on investment. This is followed by conferences, exhibitions and trade shows; direct mail; search engine keywords; and e-marketing and newsletters.
51% of B2B marketers rate Facebook as extremely or somewhat effective, followed by LinkedIn (45%), Twitter (35%) and MySpace (25%).
