For most companies, marketing budgets are something that need to be watched carefully since there are not always a lot of resources available, especially for small businesses. However, any company that wants to stay current in order to consistently attract new customers will need to monitor marketing stats and information to know where they should allocate their marketing research. Marketing data trends are in a constant state of flux, especially today with the growth and development of the internet. Knowing and understanding lots of current facts can go a long way towards helping businesses know whether they should spend money on social media, blogs, data visualization and the ability to create infographics, or other areas. Some facts have major implications.

In the first quarter of 2012, just over a quarter of all TVs that were sold had the ability to connect to the internet. While that does not necessarily mean that businesses should start producing more commercials than they did before, it does represent the fact that consumers are more connected than ever. This means that traditional marketing techniques, like print, radio, and even television, might not be as effective as other strategies that take current marketing data in account.

Even though virtually every company understands the importance of social media, especially when it comes to consumer engagement and interaction, fewer than a third actually respond to feedback from friends and followers. If businesses are looking for a good way to set themselves apart from the competition and attract new customers, they might want to make sure they take time out of every day to interact with other social media users. Doing so will help them build visibility and better relate with consumers, which could help them build a larger, and more loyal, customer base.

Any company looking to attract the greatest number of consumers possible should also consider the fact that the average tablet user spends almost 14 hours per week with their device and 64 percent of the people who own smartphones use their device for shopping. So when building a new website or using an infographic creator, businesses need to make sure that the content they produce is optimized for mobile use. In the same way that people are no longer just shopping by heading to the mall, they are no longer using the internet only from their PC. Accounting for that trend is a must for businesses looking to expand.