Quarter of local SMBs spend less than $1,500 a year on marketing
A new study of small and medium businesses in Australia and New Zealand has revealed low levels of marketing spend, but plans to boost budgets this year.
The Small Business Now: The State of SMB Marketing report from Constant Contact found that 83% of Australia and New Zealand SMBs are “concerned about economic conditions” but unlikely to do much about it from a marketing point of view.
Australia and New Zealand SMBs are most likely than their US or UK counterparts to “put off marketing tasks”, and they are also “the most likely to procrastinate managing their email marketing campaigns,” the study surmised.
However, 46% of ANZ businesses expect to increase marketing spend this year, which is the highest of any country polled, with plans to boost budgets by at least 10%.
“Nearly 90 per cent of small businesses across Australia and New Zealand are concerned about the current economic climate impacting their businesses negatively this year, which might suggest they’d want to pull back on their marketing spend to reduce costs,” said Renee Chaplin, VP Asia Pacific for Constant Contact.
“But the data tells us they intend to increase their marketing efforts in a bid to survive economic headwinds.”
83% of local small businesses are either very concerned or somewhat concerned the current economy will negatively impact them.
“This lack of spending on marketing can become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said Chaplin.
“Often small business owners lack the knowledge and time to effectively market their business. When faced with economic concerns, the instinct is to conserve cash, and often marketing is the first place SMBs look to cut back.
“However, those that double down and invest in marketing during these times are able to increase loyalty to retain customers and attract new ones when they need it the most.”
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Nathan Jolly is the Deputy Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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