New media is still central to marketing

The study, published by ISBA, reveals that 60% of companies have main brand-to-consumer websites and that the average cost of developing these is £385,000 per site.

When it comes to advertising on the internet, two-thirds of the companies surveyed already undertake this form of marketing. Of these, half plan to increase spending next year, with only 12% planning a decrease.

"Despite the burst of the internet bubble, the situation among leading advertisers appears robust. Spending on website development, e-commerce and internet advertising will continue," Jonathan Lace, Allied Domecq associate professor in advertising at Southampton Business School and author of the report, said.

The study shows that the marketing function is central to most companies' new-media ventures. In nearly three-quarters of the companies surveyed, marketing people have responsibility for the business-to-consumer website.

Debbie Morrison, director of membership services at ISBA, said: "New media is seen as a standard marketing communications tool, funded and managed by the marketing department. Given this, it is striking that almost half of advertisers surveyed believe that they are still failing to successfully integrate on- and offline media."

More than 60% of the companies said they had used direct marketing and public relations to drive traffic to their sites.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com