As part of the ritual of examining local commerce and SMB SaaS strategies, Localogy goes right to the source: SMBs themselves. After examining SMBs retirement planning and succession goals, we switch gears to examine the most popular places that they market themselves.
Localogy’s Modern Commerce Monitor (MCM) State of SMBs answers these and other questions across the SMB SaaS product set, which we preview in this Benchmark Bytes series. These Wave 8 data also get us geared up for Wave 9, which will launch in about a week. Stay tuned for that…
Data Dive
– Starting at a high level, 86 percent of SMBs use digital channels for their various marketing efforts.
– Among those, there’s a mixed bag of the types of marketing and advertising they’ve adopted.
– The most prevalent channel (75 percent) among SMB respondents is social media.
– That’s followed by website marketing at 63 percent of respondents.
– Meanwhile, 34 percent of SMB respondents rely on paid search marketing.
– 30 percent use online display advertising.
– 27 percent use search engine optimization.
– 14 percent useonline video.
– Altogether, these results aren’t terribly surprising, but there are a few insights burried within.
– First, social media’s leading position tells us a few things. Social has become part of the societal fabric so SMBs are comfortable with it. It’s also relatively easy to adopt and manage, and it has both paid and free options.
– Website marketing’s prevalence on this list is also logical, given that websites are one of the base ingredients for SMB online presence. They’ve become table stakes for SMBs as a starting point for several other channels on this list (e.g., SEO)
– After the above two results, there’s a drop-off (nearly 30 points) to the next-highest channel which is paid search. It’s suprising here that paid search is more prevalent among SMBs than SEO, given that it can be costlier (albeit easier).
– Looking further down the list, online video’s relatively low adoption among SMBs isn’t surprising, due to its production rigor and complexity. However, it’s an opportune area of development given that video is known to resonate with SMBs, a la “vanity factor.”
– The lower items on this list, especially video, represent opportunities for vendors that can lower friction and boost SMB adoption. These each have potential upside and growth headroom.
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Long-Tail Opportunity
Stepping back, SMB online marketing – as well as operational and fintech tools – continues to grow rapidly. SMB SaaS startups and online service providers are correspondingly thriving as it continues to grow as a leading subsector of the broader SaaS universe. There’s a long-tail opportunity at play.
Meanwhile, new SMB SaaS users could represent permanent adopters – a concept that accelerated in the Covid era as SMBs were forced into digital transformation. This sent them into the arms of SaaS providers (where many have stayed) to accomplish a range of marketing and operational functions.
We’ll return in the next installment to go deeper into Localogy original survey research. That will include SMB goals and success factors. Let us know what additional insights jump out at you from the above data, and stay tuned for more breakdowns in our Benchmark Bytes series.
And as noted, stay tuned for Wave 9 of Localogy’s MCM State of SMBs, which will be out shortly
