Small organisations in Britain are the most likely to cite marketing as essential to running a successful business, with the latest marketing trends survey by The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and MORI, showing the majority of firms invest in having a marketer in the board room.
The study found that two thirds of marketers surveyed claim that marketing is a high priority within their organisation, with just 8% saying that it was low priority. Almost half of the firms questioned with a turnover of over £100 million said that marketing is regarded as a high priority, rising to 88% in organisations turning over less than £1 million.
According to the CIM and MORI, companies with a turnover of less than £1 million spend just over 10% of their turnover on marketing, with just a third of marketers claiming that it is hard to secure funding for marketing activities. The survey also revealed however, that two thirds of respondents in larger organisation find marketing budgets hard to secure.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Christine Crye, chief executive of the CIM said: “Small companies appear to recognise that marketing is central to success, and as it is the smallest organisations that are the most up-beat about their prospects, they also seem confident that their investment in marketing will pay dividends.”
She continued: “It’s generally recognised that small and medium enterprises fuel the growth of the UK economy, accounting for 51.3 per cent of the UK’s turnover and employing 58.5 per cent of the workforce, so with the recognition that professional marketing is at the heart of the SME business, we can anticipate some positive commercial impact.”
The report also found that over three quarters of the smallest companies have a marketer on the board, with the figure dropping to 37% in businesses with between £51 million and £100 million, but rises slightly to 51 per cent in companies turning over more than £100 million.
Smaller firms were also found to be the most optimistic about the future, with companies expecting their sales to rise by 6.5% for this financial year, increasing to 7.6% among organisations with a turnover of under £1 million.
The latest results from the CIM are more optimistic then earlier expectations, which predicted a more gloomy outlook for the industry, forecasting declines and radical cut backs in expenditure (see Gloomy Outlook For Marketers).
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