Small Business Marketing Needs To Make The...

There is a major shift happening in the world of marketing. Actually, it’s been happening for some time, but many industries chose to ignore it.

As calls from ad reps start coming in trying to get business for 2008, I can’t help but notice that many traditional print magazines are leading with offers related to online marketing. I’ve watched the print trade magazines shrink in size for three years, but this is the first year that the sales reps are leading with online marketing mediums and opportunities.

I guess this should be no surprise to anyone, right? BtoB recently report that:

Internet advertising revenue for the first half hit a record $9.993 billion, up 26.4% from the year-earlier period, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, which released a report Thursday.

Yet, it surprises me that “old school” magazines and reps are so quickly changing their tune. I’ve spent alot of my career in the telecommunication and data networking industry that has always been slow to evolve. There are many other similar industries. But, maybe this is a sign that they’re coming of age. How the magazines write and act are typically an extension of their audience.

BtoB also reports that the channels by which we reach our audiences online is spreading out:

Forrester said interactive spending will total $18 billion this year and jump to $24 billion next year. By 2012, it will reach $61 billion, the research firm said, driven by marketers that leverage multiple channels: e-mail, search, display advertising, online video and emerging media ad channels such as social and mobile.

Now, that is what I call a shift! It’s important to keep in mind that these stats are not just a representation of a bunch of marketers - these stats are a representation of the audiences and users that those marketers are trying to reach. We need to stay on top of that and make the shift as well.

Small business marketers need to stay aware of these statistics. Our budgets don’t allow for falling behind the times.