Over two-thirds of UK ecommerce SMEs to boost marketing spend in 2017

Seven in 10 UK ecommerce SMEs plan to increase marketing spend in the coming financial year, according to a new study by MC&C.

The post-Brexit study found that an unprecedented 67% of ecommerce SMEs aim to ramp up spend on marketing – a discipline that is traditionally first to receive cuts in times of financial turmoil.

The investment is consistent across many digital areas, with a further two-thirds of those polled intending to increase the proportion of ad spend online.

Some 59% of SMEs chose to skip the cost of profession advice by making all budgeting decisions in-house.

While this tack has obvious cost-cutting appeal, start-ups should be cautious: 22% of respondents admitted to having no idea how effective their marketing spend is.

Mark Jackson, MD at MC&C, commented: “Marketing used to be seen as a bit fluffy in business. Digital technology, modelling and big data have changed all that.

“The cliché that half of all advertising is waste and no one knows which half should be confined to the dustbin of history. Marketing is an essential engine of growth, not a cost of business.

“But, as this study shows, the pendulum has swung too far. Start-up marketers have become overly focussed on what they can measure in-house – a DIY approach to media buying that has led to a relative overspend on digital channels, putting the brakes on growth.”

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