Cath Vallence, Bureau's Head of Content Programs & Strategy, spoke on "The Truth About SMEs"

1. The truth about SMEs
Cath Vallence, Head of Content & Strategy

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3. Content marketing program – content from past year alone
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SURVEYS
& EBOOKS
SMART50
AWARDS
ARTICLESWEBINARS
VIDEOS

4. How compelling is our content marketing?
Source: Google Analytics 2018 March
1000 Minimum organic page impressions for
single article
3.87% CTR from sponsored content articles
35% Opt-in rate (lead generation) from ebooks
400 Average ebook downloads
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5. SMEs might be engaged but are they the right audience for our brands?
Source: Google Analytics 2018 March
3.6m Annual impressions
600,000 Monthly impressions
19,000 Daily unique visitors
38,000 SmartCompany newsletter subscribers (Mon-Fri)
27,000 StartupSmart newsletter subscribers (Mon-Thur)
60,000 WeekendSmarts newsletter subscribers (Saturday)
16,000 SmartCompany Facebook followers
51,000 SmartCompany Twitter followers
4,000 SmartCompany LinkedIn followers
26,000 StartupSmart Facebook followers
32,000 StartupSmart Twitter followers
4,000 StartupSmart LinkedIn followers
61% Business owners & decision makers
49% Employ up to 20 people
40% Started up in the last 10 years
51% Male
49% Female
41% Planning on strategic financial investment in
next 12 months
61% Expect their business to grow in the next 12 months
45 - 49 Average age
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6. Top
search
terms
that
lead to
the site
Google behaviour bolsters our partner content program
Top
stories
resulting
from
search
Top
queries
that lead
to those
top stories
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7. What news articles have been the most popular for past 12 months?
Source: Google Analytics 2018 July
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8. How well do you know your audience?
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9. “Data is the new oil”

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We regularly poll our audience for sought-after insights to create content

11. “More than 9/10 Australian businesses are
small businesses. They account for 33% of
Australia’s GDP, employ over 40% of
Australia’s workforce, and pay around 12%
of total company tax revenue.”Source: The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman

12. Record numbers of SMEs are now exporting
SMEs make the largest contribution to GDP
in the rental, hiring and real estate services
industries – $54 billion in 2013-14
Construction industry employs more SMEs
than any other sectorSource: The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman

13. “Why do people start
businesses?
In the past, individuals
either ran a family
business or had no choice
but to self employ.
Today’s SMEs actively
choose to participate
in the SME sector. ”Source: SmartCompany research 1,300 SMEs – 2017

14. The smaller the business, the more engaged
and values oriented they are. SMEs have a
reasonably high social conscience, look up to
those who are innovating and running
successful businesses at the same time, and
have strong family values.Source: SmartCompany research 1,300 SMEs – 2017

15. “Red tape, lack of
government support
and the burden of
carrying the bulk of
Australia’s tax
responsibilities.”Source: SmartCompany research 1,300 SMEs – 2017
Small business is the least assisted sector of
the economy. Only 15% of small businesses
report receiving any form of government
assistance, compared to 30% of medium
businesses and 57% of large businesses.
Source: The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman

16. 5 Small Business
Ministers in 3 years
The Turnbull Government tried three
times to get tax cuts for big business
with turnover of more than $50m
through the Senate.
For SMEs with less than $10m
turnover, a lower tax rate of 27.5% was
legislated last year, which will drop to
27% by 2024-25 and 25% by 2026-27.

17. “SMEs seek the reward of achievement, not
simply financial gain. For them, choosing to
run their own business is a lifestyle choice;
they live and breathe it 24 hours a day and
don’t relate to the idea of work/life balance in
the common sense of the expression.Source: SmartCompany research 1,300 SMEs – 2017

18. SME owners regularly
put money into their
businesses before their
own super funds. Source: ATO
“When your taxable
income is below the minimum
wage, it’s hard enough to pay
yourself a reasonable wage
let alone make contributions
to super.”
Source: Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell

19. “While SMEs are big users of the internet, they
are relatively hands off with technology in
terms of the role it can play in their business.
Time-poor and managing reasonably well with
systems, methods and structures that are tried
and tested, they need resources that are simple
and easy to understand and implement.”Source: SmartCompany research 1,300 SMEs – 2017

20. Women are
becoming increasingly
significant in small
business. In 1991, 31%
of small businesses
owners/managers were
women. By 2015 this
figure had risen to 34%.Source: The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman

21. “50% of SMEs recruit staff by asking friends,
families and colleagues for recommendations.
44% use Seek or LinkedIn and 20% use recruiters.”Source: SmartCompany research 1,300 SMEs – 2017

22. 50% of SMEs believe
there is a skills gap in
their industry. 52% say
the answer is to train
existing staff, 31%
prefer staff mentorships
and 28% would like
to work more closely with
training providers.Source: SmartCompany research 1,300 SMEs – 2017

23. 60% of SMEs outsource some of their work
● Marketing services – web, social media, advertising & PR 84%
● Accountancy services 80%
● IT requirements 76%
49% of SMES do not have a dedicated marketing person and yet marketing is one of their biggest priorities. Focus is:
❏ Direct email marketing 55%
❏ Organic social media posts 52%
❏ Content marketing (including blogs, apps, video, podcasting) 43%
❏ Search engine optimisation (SEO) 39%
❏ Google AdWords/search engine marketing (SEM) 32%
Source: SmartCompany research 1,300 SMEs – 2017

24. What do SMEs consume?
Articles online 79.80%
eBooks 17.40%
Newsletters 55.30%
Podcasts 17.40%
Print news 26.20%
Videos 19.01%
Webinars 33.00%
Websites 58.7%
Source: SmartCompany research 1,300 SMEs – 2017

25. Need more insights to inform your marketing? Email us for a free monthly update
cvallence@engagementbureau.com.au

26. CONTACT US
Cath Vallence
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