Promotional budgets are investments in future revenue.
Online merchants hold high hopes for garnering return through building Web traffic using a loyal, profitable customer base. Trial can only pay off when the entire positive business experience of purchasing from the website supports the promotional message, and a mix of methods dedicated to promoting loyalty, as well as to stimulating trial, is what will pay off for online businesses. Even now, with much improved online promotion methods and measurement, not all merchants take part in website promotion. Only one in four Web businesses have formal site promotional budgets, which explains differences observed in website growth and success. Websites that are most successful promote heavily to reach their target audiences and don't leave success to chance.