the state of small business marketing in 2016
TRANSCRIPT
© 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
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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
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EconomicsThen & now
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...but almost ½ say the economy is taking a toll on their business.
Source: Constant Contact Small Business Holiday Survey 2015
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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.
Source: Constant Contact Small Business Holiday Survey 2015
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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…
Source: Constant Contact Small Business Holiday Survey 2015
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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
Source: Constant Contact Small Business Holiday Survey 2015
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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
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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…
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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%
Source: Constant Contact Blogs – Thanksgiving Weekend 2015 Part II: #GivingTuesday and Top Subject Line Keywords
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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%
Source: Constant Contact Blogs – Thanksgiving Weekend 2015 Part II: #GivingTuesday and Top Subject Line Keywords
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
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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
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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
Source: Constant Contact Newsroom – The What, When, and Who of Successful Emails
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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
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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”...
Source: Constant Contact Newsroom – The What, When, and Who of Successful Emails
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EmailWhere it fits
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Email works! It drives results...
Source: VentureBeat
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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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FutureWhat’s ahead
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The Mobile Opportunity
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FutureWhat’s ahead
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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
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FutureWhat’s ahead
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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
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FutureWhat’s ahead
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The Email + Social Connection
+
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Today, small businesses can find success by combining efforts
across multiple channels.
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FutureWhat’s ahead
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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
Source: Constant Contact Small Business Holiday Survey 2015
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FutureWhat’s ahead
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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
FutureWhat’s ahead
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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
Source: Constant Contact Small Business Holiday Survey 2015
FutureWhat’s ahead
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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…
FutureWhat’s ahead
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© Constant Contact 201652
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