Industrial sector to increase online marketing budgets

Over half of businesses within the industrial sector will be increasing their marketing budgets this year, according to GlobalSpec’s latest survey.

by Helen Leggatt

Fifty-five percent of managers and executives surveyed for the lastest GlobalSpec Industrial Marketing Trends Survey said they will be increasing their marketing budgets this year.

Online marketing will command a greater portion of 2007’s marketing budget for 61 percent of those surveyed. For 37 percent a third of their marketing budget would be allocated to online marketing in 2007. Only 5 percent plan to spend less on internet activity than last year.

“The gap between where companies within the industrial sector are advertising, and where their prospect base of engineering, technical and industrial professionals is searching for products and suppliers, is closing,” said Chris Chariton, GlobalSpec's vice president, via DMNews. “As industrial marketers shift more of their resources online to capture these prospects, companies need to be aware of the range of online marketing options available to them."

Other findings from the survey include:

- 74 percent of respondents indicated that either customer acquisition or lead generation is their primary marketing goal in 2007

- Less than 10 percent of respondents expected to increase spending on blogs and podcasts this year, indicating that social media has yet to make an impact in the industrial sector