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SMB Media and Brand Preferences
We recently surveyed 741 small and medium businesses (up to 500 employees) on their online and offline media preferences, top business concerns and brand ratings. We will provide the full results of this survey in a no-charge webcast at 1pmE on March 24 (register here), but the highlights include:
- Companies with 20 or fewer employees prefer direct mail as an offline source of information on products or services for their business. Those with 21-100 employees prefer tradeshows and press (i.e. articles and reviews), and those with 101-500 employees prefer print newsletters (really!).
- Online, the preferred sources of information on products or services are peer referrals, search, and educational websites. Companies with 101-500 employees slightly prefer email newsletters to educational websites.
- The most important purchase criterion is "high value," followed "low price" and "reliability." Least important: "leading brand."
- The top business challenge for companies with 20 or fewer employees is "finding new customers," followed by "managing costs." Companies with 21-100 employees are equally concerned with these two challenges; companies with 101-500 employees are more concerned with managing costs, with customer acquisition second. Least important: product development and employee retention.
- ...and the winner is: Google, with the highest brand rating, 3.9 on a 1-5 favorability scale. Other high scores from the 32 rated brands include FedEx, HP and UPS, tied at 3.7; and Microsoft and Sony (3.6).
What are the least-preferred contact methods? Where do SMBs stand on social networking? How do responses vary by industry, geography, gender and age? How do leading brands rate? For these answers and more about the tactics and messaging that best resonate with SMBs, register today for our 1pmE March 24 Webcast (there's no charge). You'll get the full results of this survey of 741 SMB marketers, as well as our complementary survey of 50 leading SMB marketers, and learn best practices in marketing to SMBs in 2009.
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>> Cisco Debuts Innovators Forum
Cisco unveiled the Innovators Forum, an online community for small businesses. The forum, which is still in preview mode, provides access to industry experts on business best practices and technology through a discussion board, podcasts and blogs.
>> OPEN Expands Savings Program
American Express OPEN added two partners to its OPEN Savings program. American Express Business Card users will receive automatic discounts from Carey International and Epson America.
>> Sage Unveils Management Software
Software and services supplier The Sage Group launched new software with expanded CRM and fixed asset management capabilities. Sage MAS 90 and 200 Extended Enterprise Suite are designed to give small and medium businesses a 360-degree view of their operations.
>> Jigsaw Enhances Email Service
Business information provider Jigsaw partnered with software maker TemplateZone to enable premium members to customize HTML emails and documents.
>> Yahoo! Small Business adds UPS
Yahoo! Small Business added UPS to its ecommerce solutions to make international shipping and item returns easier. Another new service allows Yahoo! Merchants to submit commercial invoices electronically.
>> Dell SB360 Launches Comic Strip
SB360, Dell's website for small business advice, introduced a comic strip about running a small business, drawn by Nickelodeon cartoonist Travis Nichols.
>> VistaPrint Adds to Learning Center
VistaPrint expanded its small business Learning Center portal with videos, articles, webinars and a new blog.
>> The Big Money Starts New Column
The Big Money, a business site from The Slate Group, rolled out Making Payroll, a weekly column for entrepreneurs.
Send us your news.
>> American Express OPEN Economic Pulse Survey: Fewer small business owners are worried about going out of business, and more expect to grow their businesses.
>> Millward Brown, Research International: Small businesses are cautiously optimistic and making fewer cutbacks in technology investments, compared to midmarket and enterprise-sized companies.
>> WebVisible, Nielsen Online: Despite more consumer activity online, half of small businesses spend less than 10% of their marketing budget on Internet advertising.
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