Le Italian SMEs invest more and more in digital marketing. The "Digital Presence and Communication" market appears to be growing continuously in the three-year period 2019-2021, and in 2021 recorded a value of 2,73 billion euros (+22% compared to 2020) as a consequence of the growing awareness of the importance of using digital for both domestic and international business. These are the main results of the survey conducted by Italyonline out of around 10 companies representing the reference universe by type, product segment and geographical area.
In 2021, in particular, both the number of companies that made investments in digital increased, equal to 1,2 million units (+7,5%), and the average investment per company, which reached 2,3 thousands of euros (+13%).
"Our research underlines how the digital market is constantly growing and the 2021 data confirm this trend - he commented Roberto Giacchi, CEO of Italiaonline -. The so-called Traditional market has also increased compared to 2020 but has not yet returned to the levels of 2019 pre-pandemic. This is due to the fact that not only are large investors reducing investments in traditional media in favor of digital ones, but also small and medium-sized enterprises are increasingly seeing digital as the preferred communication channel".
2020 is the year of overtaking: digital beats traditional media
The survey highlights the emergence of three main phenomena: the consolidation of the overtaking, which occurred during the pandemic, of digital compared to traditional media (despite significant growth in 2021 of 20,4% versus 2020), the growth in the use of innovative digital solutions by SMEs previously reserved for large companies (for example influencer marketing, +50% in terms of investments compared to 2020) and the growth in the use of digital channels as ways of accessing foreign markets.
The analysis conducted by Italiaonline showed that over 73% of the companies in the sample declared that they own a website, about 12% own a E-commerce and/or to be present on a marketplace also to seize opportunities in foreign markets and about 200.000 enterprises to have carried out communication campaigns e advertising online on search engines.
Italian SMEs increasingly digital and social: Facebook is the favourite
Significant data also for the world of social networks. 49,9% of the companies in the sample use social pages preferring Facebook (94,6%) and Instagram (44,8%). However, the use, even commercial, of communities is more exploited by medium/large companies which rely on social interactions for 55,2% and 59,9% respectively.
Influencer marketing is growing rapidly
The growing attention of companies to the creation of multimedia content, such as photos and videos, also continues, confirmed by a double-digit increase in investments. A rapidly growing trend is also that ofinfluence marketing, initially considered the prerogative of medium-large companies, and now increasingly used by small companies too (+50% in terms of investments compared to 2020).
On the investment front, the research confirmed the development of all the main areas of the "Online Presence and Communication" market. In fact, if the website has attracted investments of around one billion euros (recording a +17% compared to the previous year), e-commerce and marketplaces amount to around 400 million (+21%), while the social universe is worth over 360 million euros and records a growth rate of 7%.
Nano enterprises: a driving force for digital development
The survey highlights another important aspect. The nano enterprises, i.e. those with 1 or 2 employees, are a driving force for digital development because, more than others, they have understood how effective technology is and can give business answers already in the short term even without large investments and with few resources.
