By John Sullivan
Borrell Associates just released a report predicting online sales spending by local companies to grow 6% in 2009.
Not surprisingly the report finds that the small businesses are making the move to online out of necessity as during tough times they are searching for a more affordable way to advertise locally and the Internet is working for them.
And, maybe as newspapers watch their printed subscriptions decline their on the street sales force will be rewarded for selling online advertising both financially and psychologically. It’s a lot more fun to sell something that really works.
SMBs don’t advertise online because it isn’t effective, they don’t advertise online because they don’t have the time to comfortably understand how effective it is and there’s nobody out there who is rewarded enough to take the time to teach them.
Local advertising is going through a revolutionary change and it’s in a brand’s best interest to take a leadership role in helping the independent retailers find their way to the Internet.