Constant Contact's State of Small Business Marketing Report

© Constant Contact 2016

State of Small Business MarketingAnnual Report

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…50% fail within the first five years.

Viewed by many as the backbone of the U.S. economy, small businesses face an uphill battle...

Source: Small Business Association


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And the personal sacrifices are daunting. More than half feel like they can never be away from their business.

Source: Constant Contact Survey March 2015


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Source: Constant Contact Survey March 2015

So why do they do it? 62% say it’s so they can pursue their passion.


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Is enough? What are their real concerns and how are they striving to succeed?


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Here is a look at 3 key areas affecting small businesses and their marketing.


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(Moderately) Great Expectations:Small business climate


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EconomicsThen & now

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Small business optimism has grown over the past 4 years.

% of Small Businesses Anticipating Revenue Growth in the Year Ahead

Source: Constant Contact Surveys – 2013, 2014, 2015

http://news.constantcontact.com/press-release/constant-contact-survey-b2c-small-businesses-cite-customer-loyalty-top-growth-driver

http://news.constantcontact.com/press-release/holiday-season-approaches-small-businesses-report-putting-small-data-good-use

http://news.constantcontact.com/press-release/small-businesses-are-marketing-more-wherever-and-whenever-they-can-according-new-const

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EconomicsThen & now

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% of B2Cs That Expected 2015 Revenues to Exceed

2014 Revenues

66% expected growth

18% did not

16% unsure

% of B2Bs That Expected 2015 Revenues to Exceed

2014 Revenues

70% expected growth

16% did not

15% unsure

Ending on a high note…

Source: Constant Contact Small Business Holiday Survey 2015

http://news.constantcontact.com/research/ebook-constant-contact-small-business-holiday-survey-2015

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EconomicsThen & now

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...but almost ½ say the economy is taking a toll on their business.



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EconomicsThen & now

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71% say

The upside to a down economy is that external forces like the economy and increased competition have

forced them to become better marketers.



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EconomicsThen & now

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Does that mean that they’re spendingmore time or more money?

60% say they’re spending more time on marketing now than 2 years ago.

However…



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EconomicsThen & now

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…they are evenly divided on whether or not to allocate more money to marketing in 2016.

34% willspend more 35% won’t spend more

31% aren’t sure



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EconomicsThen & now

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They need to do both.When asked, “Looking back, what would

you do differently?”65% of small-business owners said…“

Spend more time and money on marketing.“

Source: QuickBooks Small Business Trends & Stats

http://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/trends-stats/know-small-businesses-start-10000-less

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EconomicsThen & now

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But where should today’s small business start?Where do they need to market?

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EconomicsThen & now

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of small businesses don’t have a website.47%

97%

Websites should be a top priority.

Source: Score.org – Making Your Website Work! When You're Online, You’re in Business

of consumers search for products and services online.

Yet…

https://www.score.org/resources/making-your-website-work-when-online-youre-in-business

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But websites are only one component of a

much larger strategy…

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EconomicsThen & now

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Number of Different Media Used for Advertising or Promotion

Source: BIA/Kelsey – August 2015

http://blog.biakelsey.com/index.php/2015/08/28/smbs-drastically-differ-in-number-of-media-used-for-advertising/

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EconomicsThen & now

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With all of the various options,where are they focusing?

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EconomicsThen & now

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Source: BIA/Kelsey – August 2015

Marketing Priorities

http://blog.biakelsey.com/index.php/2015/08/28/smbs-drastically-differ-in-number-of-media-used-for-advertising/

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Email... the small business superpower!


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EmailWhere it fits

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What marketing strategies are they using to copewith the challenging economy?

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EmailWhere it fits

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Marketers consistently ranked email as the single most effective tactic for awareness, acquisition,

conversion, and customer retention.

Source: GigaOM/Extole Research Report

http://www.extole.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Gigaom-and-Extole-Research.pdf



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EmailWhere it fits

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Rumors of email’s death

are overblown.


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EmailWhere it fits

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At which point, 2.5 billion email users will be using

mobile devices to access their email (up from 1.4 billion in

2015).

This figure is expected to grow 3% per year, reaching

246 billion/day by 2019.

By 2019, 85% of email users will access their email

accounts via a mobile device.

Source: Radicati Email and Mobile Statistics Reports

These are the facts!The number of emails per day

sent/received willsurpass 205 BILLION in 2015.

http://www.radicati.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Email-Statistics-Report-2015-2019-Executive-Summary.pdf

http://www.radicati.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Mobile-Statistics-Report-2015-2019-Executive-Summary.pdf

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EmailWhere it fits

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Email. It’s not dead! It’s alive and better then ever...

Consumers want it. Small businesses trust it.It’s easier than ever and it drives results!

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EmailWhere it fits

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91% of U.S. adults said they like to receive promotional emails.

Why email? Consumers want it!

Source: Marketing Sherpa

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/how-often-customers-want-promo-emails

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And small businesses trust it.They’re sending more emails every year.

Why are the numbers growing?Because small businesses see that email works.

Source: Constant Contact Email Volume Data

EmailWhere it fits

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307,829,296301,821,516

October 1 November 24

How do small businesses maximize the busiest time of year? With email.

For the second year in a row, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday were the two busiest days in terms of emails sent from Constant Contact’s servers.

Source: Constant Contact Blogs – Thanksgiving Weekend 2015 Part II: #GivingTuesday and Top Subject Line Keywords

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/giving-tuesday-email-data/



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EmailWhere it fits

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Small Business Thanksgiving Weekend 2015 Breakdown: daily emails sent

6%increase

2014 2015 % Increase

Wednesday 316,451,083 323,011,584 2%

Thursday (Thanksgiving) 196,965,949 209,789,628 7%

Friday (Black Friday) 256,652,991 277,942,176 8%

Saturday(Small Business Saturday) 119,948,001 137,154,363 14%

Sunday 113,155,976 115,436,034 2%

Monday (Cyber Monday) 365,306,439 375,360,099 3%

Tuesday (Giving Tuesday) 330,571,920 360,926,239 9%

Total 1,699,054,373 1,799,620,123 6%





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EmailWhere it fits

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Retail Nonprofit Sports & Recreation Education Entertainment

Wednesday 17.8% 8.9% 4.0% 3.50% 3.10%

Thursday (Thanksgiving) 25.50% 7.50% 4.40% 2.50% 2.50%

Friday (Black Friday) 24.80% 5.70% 5.70% 1.90% 3.30%

Saturday(Small Business Saturday) 26.40% 6.40% 5.70% 2.30% 3.30%

Sunday 25.70% 7.00% 5.10% 2.70% 2.60%

Monday (Cyber Monday) 20.60% 9.30% 5.00% 4.10% 2.10%

Tuesday (Giving Tuesday) 11.70% 19.50% 3.40% 4.70% 2.60%


Small Business Thanksgiving Weekend 2015 Breakdown:by industry, percentage of daily email volume sent




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The industry is still evolving, with the largest tech companies reinvesting in their email platforms.


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EmailWhere it fits

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It’s easier than ever.

But what and when you send matters!

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EmailWhere it fits

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Because of information overload and smaller screens,emails should be shorter and more direct.

How short? About 20 lines of text and three or fewer imagesget the best click-through rates.

Source: Constant Contact Newsroom – Constant Contact Data Reveals Direct Correlation between Email Campaign Effectiveness and Number of Images and Text Lines Featured

http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150303005297/en/



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EmailWhere it fits

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Some industries are finding their own sweet spots…• Association click-through

rates remain consistent between 20-30 lines of text.

• Restaurants and salons/spas both have peak click-through rates in emails with 15 images.

Source: Constant Contact Newsroom – Constant Contact Data Reveals Direct Correlation between Email Campaign Effectiveness and Number of Images and Text Lines Featured




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EmailWhere it fits

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What “clicks” with email subscribers?After 5-7 links, additional links result in minimal

additional click-throughs.

Source: Constant Contact Newsroom – The What, When, and Who of Successful Emails

http://news.constantcontact.com/image/infographic/what-when-and-who-successful-emails

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EmailWhere it fits

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Accountants & Financial AdvisorsRestaurants Hotels, Inns, B&Bs Religious

Organizations Arts & Crafts

When are subscribers most likely to open?It depends what industry you’re in...

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

6am 7am 12pm 5am

Monday

7am



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EmailWhere it fits

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Smaller, targeted – and more personal – campaigns perform better.

Source: Constant Contact Newsroom – Subscriber Email Domain and Industry are Major Factors in Email Open Rates, According to New Constant Contact Study

http://news.constantcontact.com/press-release/subscriber-email-domain-and-industry-are-major-factors-email-open-rates-according-new-


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EmailWhere it fits

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of all opens come from

38%of all opens

come from

5%of openers

51%

10%of openers

33%of all

click-throughscome from

5%of clickers

44%of all

click-throughscome from

10%of clickers

There are subscribers who open and click-through most of their emails. In

essence, they’re “superfans”...




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EmailWhere it fits

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Email works! It drives results...

Source: VentureBeat

http://insight.venturebeat.com/report/buyers-guide-how-to-navigate-the-email-marketing-landscape?utm_source=vb&utm_medium=refer&utm_content=editorial-post&utm_campaign=email-report

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What’s next for small business marketing?


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FutureWhat’s ahead

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Looking ahead

The Mobile Marketing

Opportunity

The Email & Social

Connection

New Technology

on the Horizon

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The Mobile Opportunity


http://mobilemarketingengine.com/google-demotion-with-no-mobile-website/

http://adwords.blogspot.com/2015/05/building-for-next-moment.html

http://www.radicati.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Email-Statistics-Report-2014-2018-Executive-Summary.pdf

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3


Small businesses understand the value of mobile, yet they’re not taking full advantage.

55% agree that mobile tools are fundamentally changing the nature of sales for their business

78% do not currently use mobile tools or solutions for their business

Source: Endurance International Group– New Mobile Survey Data Shows That Small Business Owners See Revenue And Growth Potential In Mobile Applications, Yet Less Than 10 Percent Have One

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-mobile-survey-data-shows-that-small-business-owners-see-revenue-and-growth-potential-in-mobile-applications-yet-less-than-10-percent-have-one-300048148.html

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-mobile-survey-data-shows-that-small-business-owners-see-revenue-and-growth-potential-in-mobile-applications-yet-less-than-10-percent-have-one-300048148.html

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Small businesses are using mobile devices largely in the same ways they do for personal use.

Only 51% use smartphones to promote and market their business.

91% say the size of the screen impacts what they are willing to do.

Time Management

is top smartphone task for small business

owners.

Source: MITX Blog

http://blog.mitx.org/Blog/bid/105057/For-Business-Large-and-Small-Mobile-Remains-an-Opportunity

http://blog.mitx.org/Blog/bid/105057/For-Business-Large-and-Small-Mobile-Remains-an-Opportunity

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3


The Email + Social Connection

+

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Today, small businesses can find success by combining efforts

across multiple channels.


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The Email + Social Connection = Powerhouse Combination

Email + Social, the top 2 tools for...

Acquiring New Customers

Social66%

Welcome!

Email63%

Welcome!Social41%

Email71%

Selling to Existing Customers

Social66%

Email85%

Engaging Customers



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Social media is a cost-effective advertising channel for SMBs.• More than half of all marketers plan to

increase their use of Facebook ads in 2016. Why?

Source: Social Media Examiner

• Because 46% of all users will use their social media platform of choice to make an online purchase.

Source: Cloudswave

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-trends-for-small-business/



http://www.slideshare.net/redasedrati/social-media-facts-and-statistics-2015-you-should-know-50893097


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Looking ahead, small businesses predict these 3 technologies will have the biggest impact on their business in the next 2-3 years.

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51% Video

Streaming

43% Internet of

Things

37% Messaging

Apps




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Despite economic challenges, small business owners

are optimistic about what lies

ahead.

Future marketing plans will include the

use of more video and

messaging apps.

The time-tested channels of

websites and email, combined

with social media, remain the marketing

channels of choice.

Email is the top choice for

engaging and selling to existing customers; social media and email are a powerful one-two punch

for acquiring new customers.

Small business passion and the

right mix of marketing tools

fuels their rightful place as a major

force in our economy.

In summary…


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Learn more from Constant Contact today…

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www.constantcontact.com

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news.constantcontact.com

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