Pay-per-Click On The Rise Among Small-Business Advertisers.

A new survey of small-business advertisers conducted by The Kelsey Group and ConStat, Inc. reveals that pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is capturing a significant percentage of promotional dollars among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have integrated it into their marketing mix. Small-business PPC advertisers currently allocate on average 23% of their total advertising budget to PPC activities, with 54% of these SMEs expecting to increase their PPC spending next year.

“These data show that PPC is an increasingly important part of an SME’s overall advertising program,” said Greg Sterling, director of The Kelsey Group’s Digital Directories: Interactive Local Media Continuous Advisory Service. “PPC’s appeal is based in large part on the perception that it’s a low-cost means of customer acquisition.”

“For this market to fully develop, that perception of low-cost customer acquisition must ultimately be demonstrated over time,” added Neal Polachek, senior vice president of The Kelsey Group.

A summary of top-line findings from The Kelsey Group/ConStat survey includes:

* SME pay-per-click advertisers currently allocate on average 23% of their ad budget to PPC
* 54% of SME pay-per-click advertisers expect to increase their PPC activities next year
* 56% of SME pay-per-click advertisers believe in its potential and agree that it will be an important advertising method for their company in the future
* 73% of SME advertisers who are interested in PPC expect to implement it within the next year

The data for this research was collected through an online survey of 460 advertising decision makers at SMEs with a Web site. Of those respondents, 11% were current users of PPC and 34% were “interested in” using PPC. Any interpretation of survey results should be seen as directional and not reflective of the current behavior of the U.S. small-business population as a whole.

For more information at http://www.kelseygroup.com