Forbes Insights and George P. Johnson surveyed more than 300 marketing executives about their levels of customer engagement. Among the findings: 97% view customer engagement as very (67%) or somewhat (30%) important, but 34% say their companies do a poor job of engaging customers and 27% have no specific strategy at all. Other findings:
• Customers (95%) are the top audience for engagement, but employees (61%) are also an important element.
• Only 59% of companies currently measure engagement; 36% do not.
• Methods to engage customers ratings: experiential (48%), opt-in (36%), live event sponsorship (36%), trade show (33%), print ads (24%) and broadcast ads (22%).
• CMOs aren’t necessarily aligning their marketing budgets to these priorities. Advertising (25%) and direct (20%) are getting the biggest share of budgets.
• Among the top customer engagement inhibitors inside companies: lack of a well-defined approach to engagement (30%) and poorly articulated benefits for loyal customers (30%).
Source: Forbes Insights/George P. Johnson
â–¶ Internet Improves Small Business: Small and midsize business (SMB) owners are utilizing the Internet to expand their companies, says a new study conducted by the American City Business Journals. Five distinct segments of users were identified. They include:
• Interactors account for 15% of the survey population and 24% of sales, and use the Internet for researching and purchasing products and investigating competitors.
• Investors represent 22% of SMB owners and 23% of sales, and are moderate Web users that manage their investment accounts online.
• Accounting for 25% of SMB owners and 29% of sales, transactors are the largest Internet segment, selling 50% of their products and services, and run established firms.
• Commentators, 17% of the survey population and 14% of sales, represent a high percentage of women- and minority-owned companies than any other segment.
• Viewers average 21 employees, work the fewest hours, and characterize 21% of the survey population and 10% of sales.
Source: American City Business Journals