In this study, Ignite Visibility interviewed 300 marketers categorized by business sizes of under 1 million, 1 to 5 million, 5 to 10 million, 10 to 20 million, 20 to 50 million and over 50 million in revenue in order to better understand any shifts in marketing budget from offline to online, as well as how they would be addressing the most popular digital marketing channels through 2021.
Key Digital Marketing Industry Study 2019 Findings
Businesses under 1 million invest the most in social media, while businesses between 1 and 5 million invest the most in search engine optimization, businesses between 5 and 10 million invest most in online advertising, businesses between 10 and 20 million invest most in email marketing, and those in the 20 to 50 million and 50+ million range invest evenly between all channels.
Regardless of the size of the business, the majority will be shifting more marketing budget to digital. Businesses in the 20 million to 50 million dollar range plan on shifting the largest amount to digital, with 90% saying they would be bringing more online.
The majority of businesses of all sizes find social media to be the most difficult channel to manage.
The larger the business, the more people responded they would be investing in all marketing channels, opposed to just a select few.
Businesses 1 million and under had the largest amount of marketers who did not know the digital marketing channel that had the highest ROI. Larger businesses generally had a better understanding of channels with the best ROI.
As far as the type of content businesses would be investing the most in, video emerged as a front runner, but results made it clear businesses would be investing in all types of content on some level.
The majority of the businesses report that social media and email marketing have the highest ROI.
Businesses 1 Million And Under: Forecasting
Summary
The under 1 million category spends the majority of their budget on digital marketing but does not have a good handle on how to track it, with 63% having no idea what their conversion rate is for each channel. They invest the most in social media but also spend small budgets on other channels. For many of them, they feel working with an agency is too expensive, but a large percentage still plan to use an agency. Only 1.7% does not plan to shift any money to digital.
Findings
By far, the most said they would invest in all marketing channels (37%).
Out of this group, social media marketing is the channel they will invest the most in (21%)
Businesses plan to invest the most amount of money in image and video creation, followed by blog content.
When looking at this small business category, an overwhelming 73% plan to spend less than 2,000 on search engine optimization, 74% plan to spend less than $2,000 on paid media, 72% plan to spend less than $2,000 on email marketing, 69% plan to spend less than $2,000 on conversion rate optimization and 72% plan to spend less than $2,000 on social media marketing.
When asked, 18% of marketers had no idea where they were getting their conversions from over the last 12 months.
Those who knew where their conversions were coming from surveyed that 41% were from social media, 28% from email marketing, 6% from SEO and 4% from PPC.
When asked, the group clearly felt that social media was by far the most challenging channel to manage (47%), email was the second (26), SEO was the third (13%), and PPC was the fourth (7%).
Most shockingly, out of all of those surveyed 42% had no idea which channel had the highest ROI.
Those who did know which channel had the highest ROI said social media (31%), email (15%), SEO (5) and PPC (5%).
When asked if they knew the conversion rate for each channel, a shocking 63% of the group did not know.
Businesses 1 Million And Under: Online vs. Offline
When looking at online vs. offline, the large majority of the group spent more money on online advertising than offline advertising, with 23% spending the majority of their budget online and 67% spending over 50% online.
When asked, 60% of the group said they will be shifting more money online. 12.5% plan to shift their entire marketing budget online and 56% plan to shift 50% or more online. Only 1.7% planned not to shift any budget to digital.
Businesses Between 1 and 5 Million: Forecasting Digital Marketing Industry Study 2019
Summary
Out of this group, we see more businesses interested in using agencies, though businesses still have fairly small marketing budgets. Of those surveyed, 25% did not know the channel with the highest ROI and 38% did not know their conversion rates. This category plans to invest the most in search engine optimization.
Findings
By far, the most said they would invest in all marketing channels (24%)
Out of this group, search engine optimization is the channel they will invest the most in (21%)
Businesses plan to invest the most in video creation, followed by images and blog content.
When looking at this small business category, most (35%) plan to spend less than $2,000 on search engine optimization, 42% plan to spend less than $2,000 on paid media, 37% plan to spend less than $2,000 on email marketing, 35% plan to spend less than $2,000 on conversion rate optimization and 33% plan to spend less than $2,000 on social media marketing.
When asked, 6% of marketers had no idea where they were getting their conversions from over the last 12 months.
Those who did know where their conversions were coming from surveyed that 42% were from social media, 29% from email marketing, 13% from SEO, 6% from PPC and 4% from CRO.
When asked, the group clearly felt that social media was the most difficult channel to manage (39%), email marketing was the second (23%), CRO was the third (17%), and SEO and PPC tied for fourth (10%)
Most shockingly, out of all of those surveyed 25% had no idea which channel had the highest ROI.
Those who did know which channel had the highest ROI reported social media (35%), email marketing (21%), SEO (17%), and PPC (2%)
When asked if they knew the conversion rate for each channel, 38% of the group did not know.
Those who did know the conversion rate for each channel responded social media (27%), email marketing (17%), SEO (13%), and PPC (6%)
Businesses Between 1 and 5 Million: Online vs. Offline Digital Marketing Industry Study 2019
When looking at online vs. offline, the large majority of the group spend more money on online advertising than offline advertising, with 69% planning to spend 50% or more online.
When asked, 69% of the group said they will be shifting more money online, while 9% plan to shift their entire marketing budget online and 52% plan to shift 50% or more online.
Businesses Between 5 and 10 Million: Forecasting
Summary
In this business category, we saw a shift in focus to online advertising and email marketing, most likely due to higher budgets and larger list sizes. A very large majority plans to use an agency and their budgets grew substantially. This business category saw the highest ROI from email marketing. This group also planned to bring more money online and had a much smaller emphasis on social media than the smaller businesses surveyed.
Findings
When asked which channels they would be investing the most in, the majority (36%) said online advertising, followed email marketing (27%).
Surprisingly, only 4.5% answered that they planned to invest in all channels.
73% of respondents plan to use an agency for online advertising, followed closely by 64% who would use an agency for email marketing, 41% who would use an agency for conversion rate optimization, 23% who would use an agency for search engine optimization, and 18% who would use an agency for social media marketing.
Businesses plan to invest the most amount of money in blog content, followed by video and image creation.
5-10 million: content investments
When looking at this business category, the majority (46%) plan to spend $5,000-$15,000 on search engine optimization, 50% plan to spend $5,000-$15,000 on paid media, 27% plan to spend $5,000-$15,000 and 27% plan to spend $30,000+ on email marketing, 41% plan to spend $5,000-$15,000 on conversion rate optimization, and 36% plan to spend $5,000-$15,000 on social media marketing.
When asked, 9% of marketers had no idea where they were getting their conversions from over the last 12 months.
When asked, the group felt that social media was the most difficult channel to manage (32%), PPC was the second (27%), email marketing was the third (23%), and SEO and CRO tied for fourth (9%).
All marketers surveyed reported that they knew which channel had the highest ROI, with email coming in first (27%), CRO and social media tied for second (23% each), PPC was third (18%), and SEO was fourth (9%).
When asked if they knew the conversion rate for each channel, only 5% of the group did not know.
Businesses Between 5 and 10 Million: Online vs Offline Digital Marketing Industry Study 2019
When looking at online vs offline, the large majority spent money equally on online advertising and offline advertising, with 45.4% spending 50% or more offline and 54.5 50% or more online.
When asked, 68% of the group said they will be shifting more money online. 53% said they planned to shift 50% or more online, and only 7% planned not to shift any budget to digital.
Businesses Between 10 and 20 Million: Forecasting
Summary
As we get into the larger categories, we see a more diversified and even approach start to develop around digital marketing. We also see larger budgets and more marketing dollars coming to digital. Additionally, we also see email emerge as the top channel to invest in and a larger number of businesses looking to use agencies.
Findings
When asked, the majority responded that they would invest in all marketing channels (23%).
Out of this group, email marketing is the channel they will invest the most in (31%).
Businesses plan to invest the most amount of money in both video creation and blog content, followed by audio content.
When looking at this business category, 31% plan to spend between $5,000-$15,000 on search engine optimization, 31% plan to spend between $5,000-$15,000 on paid media, 46% plan to spend between $5,000-$15,000 on email marketing, and 39% plan to spend between $5,000-$15,000 on both conversion rate optimization and social media marketing.
When asked, 15% of marketers had no idea where they were getting their conversions from over the last 12 months.
Those who did know where their conversions were coming from surveyed that 31% were from email marketing, 23% from CRO, 15% from social media, 8% from SEO, and 8% from PPC.
When asked, the group clearly felt that social media was by far the most challenging channel to manage (46%), CRO was second (23%), PPC was third (15%), and SEO and email tied for fourth (8%).
Out of those surveyed, 15% had no idea which channel had the highest ROI.
Those who did know which channel had the highest ROI said email (46%), social media (23%), SEO (8%), and PPC (8%).
When asked if they knew the conversion rate for each channel, a shocking 23% of the group did not know.
Businesses Between 10 and 20 Million: Online vs Offline
When looking at online vs offline, a slim majority of the group spend more money on offline advertising than online advertising, with 53.9% spending 50% or more of their budget offline and 46.2% spending 50% or more of their budget online.
When asked, 77% of the group said they will be shifting more money online, while 40% plan to shift 50% or more online. Only 10% planned not to shift any budget to digital.
Businesses Between 20 and 50 Million: Forecasting Digital Marketing Industry Study 2019
Summary
As we get into this category, we see the evenest approach to digital marketing, with 40% of businesses investing in all channels. Not only that, but they plan to invest relatively the same amount into each channel. In this category, we see the biggest reason for using an agency is search engine optimization. Email marketing is the least, as resources are developed in house. We also see that marketers are clearly investing in tracking, as they knew where all conversions were coming from.
Findings
By far, the most said they would invest in all marketing channels (40%).
Interestingly, most planned to invest evenly in search engine optimization (20%), email marketing (20%), online advertising (20%), and conversion rate optimization (20%). Only 10% plan to invest in social media.
Businesses plan to invest an equal amount of money in video, image creation, and blog content.
When looking at this business category, 30% plan to spend between $15,000-$30,000 on search engine optimization, 40% plan to spend between $5,000-$15,000 on PPC, and 40% plan to spend less than $2,000 on email marketing. Interestingly, there was an even split with conversion rate optimization: 30% planned to spend less than $2,000, 30% planned to spend between $2,000-$5,000, and 30% planned to spend $30,000+. Similarly, 30% planned to spend between $2,000-$5,000 and 30% planned $5,000-$15,000 on social media.
When asked, all marketers knew where they were getting their conversions from over the last 12 months.
They responded that 50% came from email, 30% from social media and 20% came from CRO.
When asked, the group clearly felt that email was by far the most challenging channel to manage (60%), and SEO, PPC, CRO, and social media all tied for second (10%).
Out of all of those surveyed, only 10% had no idea which channel had the highest ROI.
The majority who did know which channel had the highest ROI said email (50%), SEO (20%), CRO (10%), and social media (10%).
When asked if they knew the conversion rate for each channel, only 10% of the group did not know.
50% knew the conversion rate for email, 20% for social media, and 10% for PPC and CRO.
Businesses Between 20 and 50 Million Online vs. Offline
When looking at online vs. offline, the group spent an equal amount on online advertising and offline advertising, with 50% spending 50% or more of their money offline, and 50% spending 50% or more online.
When asked, an incredible 90% of the group said they will be shifting more money online. 11% plan to shift their entire marketing budget online and 34% plan to shift 90% or more of their budget online.
Businesses Over 50 Million a Year: Forecasting
Summary
In this group, we see the majority investing evenly in all marketing channels. This category saw a very large demand for agency help with SEO, email marketing, and online advertising, with relatively low demand for conversion rate optimization. This group felt social media had the highest ROI.
Findings
By far, the most said they would invest in all marketing channels (43%).
Out of this group, marketers planned to invest evenly in email marketing, online advertising, conversion rate optimization, social media marketing and search engine optimization (all 14%).
Businesses plan to invest the overwhelming majority of money in video creation, with blog content and image creation trailing behind.
When looking at this business category, 43% plan to spend between $15,000-$30,000 on search engine optimization, and 43% plan to spend between $15,000-$30,000 on social media. Surprisingly, the results were split evenly across other channels. On PPC, 29% plan to spend less than $2,000, 29% plan to spend between $2,000-$5,000, and 29% plan to spend between $15,000-$30,000. On email marketing, 29% plan to spend $2,000-$5,000, and 29% plan to spend between $15,000-$30,000. And on conversion rate optimization, 29% plant to spend between $5,000 and $15,000 and 29% plan to spend $30,000+.
When asked, 14% of marketers had no idea where they were getting their conversions from over the last 12 months.
Those who did know where their conversions were coming from surveyed that 43% were from social media, 14% from email, 14% from SEO, and 14% from PPC.
When asked, the group felt that SEO, CRO, and social media were equally challenging to manage (all 27%). Only 14% felt that email marketing was the most challenging.
Out of all those surveyed, 14% had no idea which channel had the highest ROI.
Those who did know which channel had the highest ROI overwhelmingly said social media (57%), followed by PPC (14%) and CRO (14%).
When asked if they knew the conversion rate for each channel, 14% of the group did not know.
Businesses Over 50 Million a Year: Online vs. Offline Digital Marketing Industry Study 2019
When looking at online vs. offline, the large majority of the group spend more money on online advertising than offline advertising, with 43% spending all of their money online.
When asked, 57% of the group said they will be shifting more money online. 25% plan to shift their entire budget online, while 25% will not be shifting any online.
Summary Of Findings Digital Marketing Industry Study 2019
In this study, we see a natural progression of businesses as they grow in revenue.
They often start with social media which is very low cost, graduate to search engine optimization and online advertising, and then eventually build a list and work more on email marketing.
We also see that as businesses grow, they implement better tracking and develop an understanding of the conversion rates and ROI around each channel.
The very large majority plan to invest more in online marketing than offline; thus, we see a disruptive shift continue in the industry.
While social has a high ROI due to its very low cost, businesses are apprehensive as it is hard for them to manage. Smaller companies want to use an agency but feel they are expensive, while larger agencies are not as concerned about the cost but care more about lack of expertise in agency account managers or slow response time.
As businesses grow in revenue, so does their budget allocation to marketing channels, marking a more mature business with a diversified portfolio.
Generally, this study predicts strong growth for digital marketing and each digital channel.
John Lincoln is CEO of Ignite Visibility, a top digital marketing agency and a six-time Inc. 5000 company. Lincoln is a frequent speaker, author of Digital Influencer, The Forecaster Method, Advolution, and creator of SEO: The Movie and Social Media Marketing: The Movie. He is consistently named one of the top digital marketers in the industry and has received the Search Engine Land "Search Marketer of the Year" award. Lincoln has taught digital marketing and web analytics at the University of California, San Diego since 2010 and has been named as one of San Diego's most admired CEOs and a top business leader under forty.
