All small businesses want for Christmas is a way to better connect to their customers, according to new research from BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor (LCM) survey of Small Businesses (SMBs). The LCM, Wave 21 survey reveals what marketing services and tools small businesses want to add to their marketing arsenals in 2018.
“Email marketing, business software tools, and online surveys are key wants for small businesses in the new year as they continue the struggle to manage marketing on multiple channels and connect with customers on different platforms,” said Celine Matthiessen, VP of Analysis and Insights, BIA/Kelsey.
Media Channels
The results showed good news for companies that offer either email marketing or SEO services to small businesses – with 39.6 percent and 38.8 percent respectively desiring to add these media channels to their advertising mix.
The third most popular channel small businesses want to add was video. According to the latest LCM data, 72.5 percent of small businesses had at least one video produced in the last 12 months, with two-thirds of them making the video themselves and another third using social media tools to create a video.
Marketing Services
Small businesses’ customers are online and are looking to interact with the businesses they frequent. So it is no surprise that LCM showed online/cloud marketing services such as online satisfaction surveys, reputation monitoring, and online scheduling were high on their list of desired marketing services.
Marketing Tools
The list of marketing tools small businesses want to add may bring a good year to companies such as Microsoft. The number one marketing tool desired was business software, which includes Microsoft’s Office 365. Cross channel ad analytics and online/cloud services were also highly desired.
Key Takeaways
Offering small businesses marketing tools and services that help them connect with their customers (email marketing, SEO, surveys) and help them run their businesses more efficiently (business software, analytics, online/cloud services), are key areas of opportunity for B2B service providers in the coming year.
Other revelations about small businesses from LCM (Q3/2017):
· 45.4 percent maintain a Facebook Page
· 43.4 percent have at least one free social media account other than Facebook (Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
· 44.4 percent maintain a website
· 38.6 percent use email marketing
Original blog here at http://blog.biakelsey.com/index.php/2017/12/15/top-marketing-tools-and-services-small-businesses-are-planning-to-add-next-year/
About BIA/Kelsey
BIA/Kelsey combines data, analytics and insights to provide its clients with the information they need for grounded financial and strategic action. Since 1983, BIA/Kelsey has been a valuable resource for many of the leading companies in media and the financial and legal community serving media and telecom, as well as the FCC and other government agencies. Today, BIA/Kelsey offers a broad range of research, consulting services and conferences to traditional and new media companies. Learn more about BIA/Kelsey at www.biakelsey.com.
