Microsoft adCenter conducted a survey of 400 small businesses with 250 employees or less to gauge small business sentiment toward search marketing and advertising.
Among the participants’ chief concerns, most cited the common misconceptions of cost, time and complexity as major hurdles to conducting search marketing campaigns for their businesses.
Key small business concerns regarding search engine marketing from the Microsoft adCenter study:
- Nearly nine in 10 (89 percent) feared keywords may become too expensive.
- 81% questioned if paid search marketing is the best use of their marketing budgets.
- 25% of respondents believe paid search marketing is too complex.
- 21% thought it would be too time-consuming.
- 35% felt they would need an agency to help set up a search marketing campaign.
The most surprising finding from Microsoft’s adCenter Study? 7 in 10 small-business owners who participated revealed that they would rather try to do their own taxes than start a paid search marketing campaign!
The Microsoft study also revealed that 59 percent of small businesses with Web sites don’t currently use paid search marketing, and of those, 90 percent have never even attempted it.
Will search engine advertising providers like Microsoft ever overcome the general small business perception that search engine advertising is too costly, time consuming and complex?
Not until the small business advertiser has been convinced and shown otherwise that search engine marketing is inexpensive, quick and easy.
Tags: Search Advertising, Small Business Search Engine Marketing
Search Marketing Communications 
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