The top priorities for business growth and expansion amongst small to medium sized business in the UK have been unveiled in a new study; with diversifying, moving into international territories and investing in affiliate marketing outlined as the most likely methods to be deployed to help develop companies further.
A new study involving small to medium sized business across the UK has revealed more about their top priorities for expansion and growth in 2014, with companies identifying ‘diversifying’, ‘investing in affiliate marketing’ and ‘moving into international territories’ as methods they wanted to focus on this year to develop their company further.
Affiliate network http://www.paidonresults.com carried out the research in order to understand more about the thought process of businesses when it comes to focusing on growth. Some 975 SME owners took part in the poll and answered questions about their plans for 2014, all of which aimed to grow their business.
When asked if they had ideas in mind for the growth of their business this year, 91 per cent of those taking part said ‘yes’. These people were then asked to outline what methods they’d be looking to focus on in order to grow their company successfully in 2014 and were given a list of answers to chose from, or they could select ‘other’ if they wished.
The business owners were able to select as many answers as they wanted to in order to reflect their business growth priorities. The top ten priorities for business growth in 2014 for SMEs are as follows:
- Diversify product/service offering – 31 per cent;
- Expand into international territories – 28 per cent;
- Invest in affiliate marketing – 22 per cent;
- Invest in SEO – 19 per cent;
- Invest in advertising – 19 per cent;
- Seek funds from investors – 15 per cent;
- Invest in public relations – 14 per cent;
- Invest in staff members (recruitment/training) – 11 per cent;
- Cut outgoing costs – eight per cent; and
- Consider merger – four per cent.
The findings follow a previous study which revealed that a quarter of UK retailers with an e-commerce platform had failed to consider affiliate marketing for their business; potentially missing out on a sales boost of ten per cent growth in the first year of running a programme.
Author: http://www.realbusiness.co.uk
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