U.S. manufacturers shift marketing budgets online

Posted by Erina Lin on August 18, 2009 at 2:42 PM

While many people still think the manufacturing industry is conservative in its marketing efforts, a new GlobalSpec report pointed out that during the first quarter, marketing and sales professionals at manufacturing companies were increasing shifting their money online, AdWeek reported.

Twenty-nine percent of the respondents from the manufacturing companies in the United States said they already put more than 50 percent of their marketing dollars online, while 48 percent said online marketing will make up a bigger proportion this year compared to the previous year.

Respondents gave an average score of 7.9 out of 10 to the question of whether "there is greater pressure to demonstrate accountability and return on marketing investments," and an average of 6.1 to "there is greater push to shift marketing dollars to online programs."

Moreover, 53 percent said they will "choose marketing programs that are measurable," while 69 percent said they'll "closely evaluate the performance of marketing programs and reduce or eliminate programs that don't perform well," AdWeek reported.

The top three online marketing channels are online directories/Web sites, e-mail marketing using in-house lists, and search engine optimisation. More than six out of 10 respondents said they're using all of these in their marketing mix this year, but only less than one in five said they are using blogs and podcasts.

On the other hand, traditional media are pinched. The three areas experiencing most budget cuts were trade magazine advertising, trade shows and printed directories, AdWeek reported.