Business-to-business marketers are increasingly turning to the internet for advertising, with a survey finding that 47 per cent of all budgets are now being spent on online tactics.

Thursday, 4 December 2008

The study was carried out among US companies by Hearst Electronics Group and Goldstein Group Communications (GDC).

Joel Goldstein, president of GDC, describes the redefining of budgets as "dramatic", adding that it has been prompted by the fact that websites and search engines are cited as the best sources of leads.

"Clearly online spending for webcasts, search engine marketing and generating online content are now seen as the primary drivers of branding and lead generation for most companies," says Goldstein, predicting that online video and social media are likely to grow significantly over the coming years as marketers recognise their benefits.

Kieron Matthews, Marketing Director at the IAB, comments: "It comes as no surprise that the more we ‘do business’ online, the more attractive it is to present messages while you ‘do business’ online. The real challenge ahead for brands is to recognise that in truth methodologies and creativity for B2B shouldn’t be a million miles away from how B2C is executed."

This week eMarketer forecast that online spending in the US will have increased by 11 per cent by the end of the year, compared to 2007 figures.