• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Thats Journal

  • Home
  • About
  • Digital Marketing
    • Affiliate Marketing
    • Branding
    • Content Marketing
    • Email Marketing
    • Marketing
    • Sales and Marketing
    • SEO
  • Social Media
  • Influencers
  • Resources
  • WordPress
    • WordPress Plugins
    • WordPress Themes
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Us
  • Show Search
Hide Search

New Survey Reveals Shift In Ad Spend Depends On Company Size

John Lincoln · Mar 6, 2019 · Leave a Comment

New Survey Reveals Shift In Ad Spend Depends On Company Size

It’s no mystery that companies are shifting advertising dollars to digital. But how much money are they moving and where are they putting it?

The answer to that question depends on the company size.

That’s based on a study conducted by my company, Ignite Visibility, which you can download in full here.

According to the survey of 300 marketers, smaller businesses focus on social media marketing while larger firms concentrate on email marketing.

The biggest businesses distribute their digital ad spend evenly across all channels.

The study also revealed some startling statistics, which I’ll share with you below.

The Smallest Businesses Love Social Media

Businesses that earn less than $1 million annually in revenue prefer to invest in social media.

Why? Probably because it’s the most affordable type of digital marketing. That makes it a great starting point for companies on a shoestring budget.

Unfortunately, those companies also lack the resources to invest in digital marketing research. According to the survey, 63% of respondents in this group didn’t know their conversion rate for each channel.

Small businesses also plan to invest in content marketing. That’s another inexpensive digital strategy.

Respondents also said that their business is too small to afford to hire an agency to assist with online marketing.

Businesses Between $1 Million and $5 Million Go for SEO

Businesses at this level are starting to take an interest in using agencies.

The highest percentage of respondents in this group (21%) said that they’ll invest the most in SEO. However, 35% said that they plan to spend less than $2,000 on optimization efforts.

Only 6% of marketers in this group said they had no idea where their conversions were coming from over the past year.

Those who did know said that most of their conversions (42%) come from social media.

Businesses Between $5 Million and $10 Million Like PPC

Businesses that earn between $5 million and $10 million in revenue each year opt for online advertising.

More than a third (36%) said they’ll invest the most in digital ads. That’s followed by email marketing (27%).

Only 4.5% said they plan to invest in all marketing channels.

Also, companies at this level are far more likely to use agencies. Almost three-quarters (73%) of respondents plan on outsourcing their digital strategy.

Half of those surveyed said they’ll spend between $5,000 and $15,000 on paid media.

All marketers in this group said they knew which channel had the highest ROI.

Businesses Between $10 and $20 Million Prefer Email Marketing

Marketers who work with businesses that earn between $10 million and $20 million annually choose email as their preferred channel.

Almost a third (31%) said that they’ll invest the most in email marketing – and they’ll spend between $5,000 and $15,000 on it.

Surprisingly, 15% of those surveyed in this group have no idea where their conversions are coming from.

Those who did know where their conversions were coming from said that most of their conversions (31%) were from email marketing.

Businesses Between $20 Million and $50 Million Are More Balanced

Businesses that earn between $20 million and $50 million every year prefer a comprehensive digital strategy.

Forty percent said they’re investing in all marketing channels.

In fact, they plan to invest evenly in SEO, email marketing, online advertising, and conversion rate optimization.

Only 10% plan to invest in social media.

All the marketers in this group knew where their conversions were coming from.

Business Over $50 Million Also Invest Evenly Among All Channels

Businesses that earn more than $50 million annually take an approach similar to those earning between $20 million and $50 million.

Forty-three percent said that they invest evenly in all channels. Their spend is split evenly between SEO, email marketing, and online advertising.

Companies at this level didn’t invest a whole lot in CRO.

In this group, 14% of marketers had no idea where their conversions were coming from.

The same number didn’t know which channel had the highest ROI.

Wrapping It Up

It’s clear: as businesses grow in revenue, they change their digital strategy.

Small businesses often start with a low-cost social media approach. As they earn more income, they graduate to SEO and PPC.

Eventually, they focus on email marketing.

The biggest companies choose an approach that includes numerous channels.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Related

Download thousands of Themes, Plugins & Graphics to create your Website. Use promo code ThatsJournal and get an additional 10% off for All MonsterONE Plans.

Digital Marketing ads, advertisements, advertising, advice, Agency, Analytics, budget, Companies, content marketing, conversion, data, Digital Marketing, email, Marketers, online, Paid, PPC, research, resources, revenue, ROI, search engine optimization, SEO, small business, Social media, spending, statistics, strategy, study, Tips

About John Lincoln

John Lincoln MBA, is Co-Founder and CEO of Ignite Visibility, a teacher at UC San Diego, a keynote speaker, the 2017 Search Engine Land “Search Marketer of the Year” and one of the top digital marketing consultants in the industry. Lincoln eats, sleeps, lives and breaths digital marketing and brings that enthusiasm and drive to the entire Ignite Visibility team.

Disclosure: Thats Journal is supported by our readers. This page may contain affiliate links. That means, if you click on these links to make a purchase, we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). These funds help us to keep this blog up and running.

Categories

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to Thats Journal and receive new posts by email.

Join 38,252 other subscribers

Join Our Community of 50,000+ Bloggers And Authors!

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Copyright © 2023 Thats Journal