Email marketing UK: Small firms 'lacking promotional strategies'

Many small and medium-sized businesses are failing to formulate email marketing and other promotional strategies, it has been reported.

According to the Access Management Corporation, three in five firms could be ignoring the need to form a solid marketing strategy.

The firm claims that 58.9 per cent of company bosses make no attempt to identify the respective costs and benefits of promotional work such as email marketing, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Commenting on the study, Cecelia Haddad of Marketing Elements claimed advertising is often done ad hoc by small businesses, with no real thought going into the process.

"Businesses need to realise that marketing isn't an expense but a legitimate business-building activity," she stated.

"Often they will try a marketing technique based on their own ideas or what may seem like a bargain only to realise it only reached a small percentage of their target market, by which time their budget is blown."

Last week, a study conducted by Citibank and GfK Roper indicated that 42 per cent of small business owners and managers have used their websites to attract more new customers over the last year.

Written by Debra Hastings-Henry