Small Businesses Act Big, Increase Spend on Online Marketing

December 1, 2006; 02:22 AM
Small and medium-sized businesses are poised to increase spending on e-commerce and online marketing in 2007, according to a new Yankee Group survey. Very small businesses, ranging in size from two to 19 employees, are on the leading edge with 52 percent of respondents saying they would increase online marketing dollars next year.

“Small and medium-sized business managers want and intend to spend more on e-commerce and online marketing in 2007 because they recognize these technologies can help level the playing field between large and small businesses,” said Russell Morgan, president of the nonprofit Information Technology Solution Providers Alliance (ITSPA). “In fact, we’re starting to see small businesses not only invest more in these online tools, but also see increased revenue as a result of that investment.”
A Yankee Group study shows the optimism of the current marketplace and the rise of more technologically savvy business owners.

“The 2006 SMB Business Applications and Web Survey sheds a lot of light on how small business are implementing online tools to increase market share and boost profits,” explained Gary Chen, analyst, Yankee Group Enterprise Research group, small and medium business strategies. “After conducting the same survey five consecutive years and seeing such a marked interest this year, we expect 2007 to be a banner year for online marketing and e-commerce.”

GolfNow.com (www.golfnow.com), the nation’s largest online tee time retailer that provides access to more than 900 courses nationwide, is one small business who took advantage of these new technologies and leveraged its small size to play big.

“To compete with the bigger competitors in our industry, we use online marketing to provide the best interactive features and the latest web technologies,” said Matt Arnzen, director of Internet marketing for GolfNow.com. “We use several different ways to drive consumers to our site, including consumer e-mail newsletters with special promotions, search engine marketing through Google ad words and search engine optimization to capture users searching for tee times or specific golf courses.”

GolfNow.com’s online involvement has paid off in a big way. Its online marketing program next year will be expanding even further, to include a complete site re-design and a customer rewards program.

“Many small businesses are using online sales tools to attract and serve customers not only in their local markets but across the country. By expanding market reach, small businesses can boost the bottom line,” noted ITSPA advisory board chairman James J. Lillis, vice president of services for technology provider CDW Corporation. “Each customer’s need for servers, storage, network services and software is unique, so it’s important to find a technology solution partner to identify the technology that makes the most sense for their business and circumstance.”

Solution providers can help sort through options and implement solutions for e-commerce and online marketing, provide affordable options and manage integration from and with existing systems.

About ITSPA (www.itspa.net)
Headquartered in Portland, Ore., the Information Technology Solution Providers Alliance (ITSPA) is a national, nonprofit organization serving as an objective resource for businesses hoping to take advantage of the benefits of new technology. ITSPA is dedicated to helping small and medium-size businesses adopt technology and grow by using local solution providers to solve business challenges.

About Yankee Group (www.yankeegroup.com)
The people of Yankee Group are the global connectivity experts™ – the leading source of insight and counsel for builders, operators and users of connectivity solutions. For more than 35 years, Yankee Group has conducted primary research that charts the pace of technology change and its effect on networks, consumers and enterprises. Headquartered in Boston, Yankee Group has a global presence including operations in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific.