Direct interview with web managers at BtoB companies.
"Please tell me your company's corporate website renewal budget."

My name is Sakamoto, and I am the BtoB team leader in the Marketing Department.
This month, we will be reporting on data on renewal costs from the "Corporate Website Operation Status Report." If you are planning on renewing your website in the future, please take a look at this report and compare it with your company's situation.

First, we asked 114 companies about their renewal budgets.

In the Corporate Website Operation Status Report, we also asked about the budget (production costs) for the previous website renewal. 114 companies responded to this question. We divided the results into five broad budget ranges and looked at the breakdown.

The percentages were roughly the same for the main budget ranges, but for those with budgets over 3 million yen, the figure was nearly 70%. Among the companies we interviewed, there were some that spent over 30 million yen. (114 responses. In-house production not included.)

What happens if we look at the sales volume of companies?

In addition, we divided the companies into three groups based on their sales volume and looked at the relationship with the budget.

A: Companies with sales of less than 10 billion yen
The most common budget was between 1 million and 3 million yen, accounting for 39%. The overall average budget was about 4.22 million yen.

B: Companies with sales between 10 billion yen and 100 billion yen
The number of companies spending over 10 million yen has increased significantly compared to group A. 40% of companies spent over 5 million yen. The average was "about 6.37 million yen."

C: Companies with sales of 100 billion yen or more
Nearly 30% of the homes cost over 10 million yen, but 36% are in the 1 million to 3 million yen range, so there is a polarized market. However, overall, the price range remains high. The average is about 16.96 million yen.

Of course, the cost will vary depending on when the renewal was done, the size of the website (number of pages), and what functions are included. However, these results should give you an idea of the cost of a renewal.

Sakamoto's Budget Case Files: What is actually happening on the ground?

In the interviews for this report on the current state of operations, we not only had them answer questions, but also shared some behind-the-scenes stories from the renovation. Here we will introduce some of the most memorable stories.

Episode 1. "A field worker who wants to make a bulk request vs. upper management who wants to keep the budget down"

Mr. A from the General Affairs Department was appointed as a member of the renewal project. While continuing his regular duties, he also had to write manuscripts, plan content, and communicate with the production company, and his workload increased more than he expected. His true feelings were, "I want to outsource everything to the production company!"
So he appealed to his superiors, but was met with a cold response from the higher-ups: "Can't you do that in-house?" As a result, the budget was cut, and the in-house members were put in charge of planning, including writing the manuscript.

Episode 2: "The Unsuccessful Budget Application"

"It didn't work out this year either," lamented Mr. B from the business planning department.
The budget application that we submitted with great enthusiasm, hoping that this year would be the year, was once again rejected, as it always is.
My boss said, "It's not like the current site can't be used."
I understand that it's better to change it, but is it really necessary to do it this year?
I couldn't say, "I heard the same thing last year," so I quietly accepted what my boss had said.
(The company's performance improved after that, and the decision to renew was made two years later.)

Episode 3. "Unexpected response on the recruitment site! We've decided to renew our corporate site too!"

This year, in line with the company's policy of focusing on recruitment, Company A renovated its recruitment site while leaving the corporate site unchanged. This resulted in a much greater response than they had expected. Applications that had previously only come in through Rikunabi now come in in large numbers from their own site (recruitment site).
The upper management was surprised and pleased by the reaction. If the changes were going to be so great, they decided to renew the corporate website as well, and so the decision was made without any problems.

As these stories show, many people in charge have a hard time securing a budget.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to improve it.
In addition to these operational status reports, we also prepare proposals that can be used for budgeting, so please contact us if you need help.