Online Marketing Budgets: Skip Social Media?

I know that I'm doing a lot of badmouthing social media today, but a lot of this stuff should be thought about at least by those that use it a lot for their businesses. Knowing the downsides of things is usually the best way to decide if the upsides are worth the hassle right?

Is social media the right choice for an online business? Most people believe it is great, but where is all the money coming from? Probably e-mail marketing, which has been around for over a decade. Someone that bought your weight loss drinks probably wouldn't be upset if you sent them an e-mail about your weight loss bars. Some of the cross-marketing of e-mails for people that don't immediately mark them as spam has always been very effective marketing.

Social media may get all the ink, but it is not getting most of the dollars – at least not from small businesses, says a new report.

The majority of small companies will plow most of their marketing funds into traditional websites and e-mail, says a report by online survey firm Zoomerang and GrowBiz media. The report surveyed 751 small firms, nearly all (89 percent) of which had fewer than 25 employees. more