ANTenna Blog -- Business & E-Business

A new Constant Contact survey says SMBs are boosting their Internet marketing for the Holidays, ClickFuel has upgraded its FuelStation online marketing dashboard to work with QuickBooks 2010 and QuickBooks Pro, and ProPay's CartLite is an entry-level shopping cart.

Constant Contact's fifth annual Small Business Holiday Outlook Survey indicates that Holiday-related e-mail marketing increased from 60% of SMBs in 2008 to a whopping 89% this year, while use of social-networking services Twitter and Facebook has jumped 10% since February.

The survey also noted an increase in SMBs optimistic about the economy, from 25% last year to 35% in 2009. 43% expect their online holiday sales to grow this year, while only 38% expected such increases last year.

To make that happen, since February SMBs have boosted use of email marketing, online advertising, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, and YouTube (listed in order of popularity). Only MySpace saw a decline usage, yet another blow to that service's relevance as a marketing platform.

To help track your efforts, ClickFuel announced that it has upgraded its Fuel Station dashboard to work with Intuit's QuickBooks 2010 and QuickBooks Pro. The $99 per month app lets small businesses manage and monitor their online marketing activities in real time, while a call tracking feature improves quality assurance on incoming calls. The upgraded version of the software is available in the Intuit App Center.

Finally, credit card security vendor ProPay announced a partnership with Hosted Concepts LLC to offer the ProPay CartLite shopping cart to work with ProPay Merchant Services accounts. The software, developed and supported by Hosted Concepts, is integrated with ProPay's ProtectPay secure data repository and designed to work with any Web site without special programming. As an entry level solution priced at $39.95 per year, the company claims that CartLite carries no hidden fees or monthly minimums.

More From bMighty:

• E-Mail Marketing: Make $57 For Every Dollar You Spend
• More SMBs Are Advertising Online Than In Traditional Media
• SMBs Can Complement Online Marketing With Direct Mail

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