East Greenbush, NY – (Business Wire) – 6/30/2010 – As the economy continues to rebound, companies in the industrial sector are putting more dollars into marketing and spending more of it online, according to research published today by GlobalSpec. The company conducted a survey of industrial marketers and results and recommendations are available in a company report, "Trends in Industrial Marketing 2010: How Manufacturers are Marketing Today." GlobalSpec is the leading specialized search engine, information resource, e-publishing and online events company for the engineering, industrial and technical communities.

One of the most noteworthy trends is the optimism surrounding the economic upturn. In 2010, 70 percent of companies anticipate an increase in sales, compared to 2009, when only 16 percent expected it.

At the same time though, industrial marketers reported their biggest challenges continue to be limited resources, lack of high-quality leads and a need to improve ROI. Nearly 75 percent of the 464 respondents stated that lead generation or customer acquisition is their main goal. To address these issues, more than half indicated that online channels such as directories and websites, along with an increase in social media tactics, will be major components of their 2010 marketing campaigns.

With the prevalence of social media in business, it's not surprising that more than two-thirds of marketers responding said they plan to spend more on video and social media such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Conversely, 25 percent plan to decrease their spend on trade magazine advertising and 24 percent will decrease use of printed directories.

"The survey results indicate that manufacturers are responding to economic improvements by spending more on marketing efforts, and they are spending more of those dollars online," said Chris Chariton, vice president of marketing services and product management for GlobalSpec, Inc. "Companies now realize that the vast majority of their target audience search online for products, services and suppliers and this is where they need to be."

Additional trends gleaned from the survey include:

• More marketing dollars will be spent online, with 47 percent reporting they'll spend more than one-third of their budgets online and 51 percent will invest more than they did in 2009.
• Top sources for lead generation include online channels such as company websites, e-mail marketing and search engine optimization.
• Three-fourths include customer specifications on their websites; one of the key features customers and prospects search for on company websites.

Based on survey results, the three key recommendations in the report call for companies to ramp up marketing as the economy improves; implement tactics that can be measured such as online programs; and choose targeted online activities that reach customers and prospects.

For a copy of "Trends in Industrial Marketing 2010" visit: http://www.globalspec.com/wp/2010_MktgTrends_PR.

About GlobalSpec, Inc.
GlobalSpec, Inc. is the leading specialized vertical search, information services and e-publishing company serving the engineering, technical and industrial communities. GlobalSpec users benefit from domain-expert search engines, a broad range of proprietary and aggregated Web-based content, 40 e-events and more than 60 e-newsletters - helping them search for and locate products and services, learn about suppliers and access comprehensive technical content. SpecSearch®, GlobalSpec's trademarked search technology, allows users to search by specification more than 186,000,000 parts in 2,300,000 product families from more than 23,000 supplier catalogs. For suppliers, GlobalSpec offers highly filtered sales and marketing opportunities, product promotion and brand advertising platforms, including the GlobalSpec Industrial Ad Network, and a wide range of e-media advertising and marketing solutions.

GlobalSpec, SpecSearch, The Engineering Search Engine and The Engineering Web are registered trademarks of GlobalSpec, Inc.

Contact:
GlobalSpec Marketing
E-mail: marketing@globalspec.com

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