home business

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of all small businesses said they lacked full confidence in their marketing decisions, according to the results of a U.S. survey released today by HP. Furthermore, nearly half (46%) said they did not have general marketing expertise, and 60% felt their small business marketing could be more effective.

The survey, conducted by International Communications Research (ICR), also found that only 33% of small businesses had created marketing collateral, and a mere 27% had designed an official company logo. On average, small businesses expect to grow 27% over the next two years. Unsurprisingly considering this anticipated growth, the desire to reach new customers was cited as the primary reason (61%) small businesses are seeking more effective marketing strategies. Other major survey findings include:

·        46% of small businesses were not satisfied with the time currently spent on marketing their companies.

·        27% rated their current marketing efforts as highly effective.

·        Only 18% of small businesses felt they were capable of creating in-house marketing collateral.

·        The top two reasons cited by small businesses as to why they would want to create marketing collateral in-house are reducing costs (39%) and convenience/speed (33%).

For more information visit www.hp.com.