This document reports on the results of a survey of 312 SMB principals regarding their technology needs, purchasing habits, and preferences. Some key findings include:
- Nearly two-thirds of SMBs expect their revenue to be up in 2016 compared to 2015.
- SMBs most commonly learn about new technologies from peers and colleagues. They also prefer researching technologies via search engines and consulting peers when making purchase decisions.
- Data security is the top driver for SMB technology purchases, followed by keeping current with customer technology usage and improving business processes.
- SMBs are most likely to purchase or upgrade cell phones by the end of 2016 but budget less than $10,000 per year on other technologies on average.
Bredin Fastcast: Getting SMBs to Share Your ContentBredin, Inc.
As a marketer to small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), your company probably uses content marketing to drive awareness and engagement, enhance your brand, nurture prospects, close sales and retain customers. If so, you’re probably facing a key challenge of content marketing: getting SMBs to share your content with their peers.
To find out how you can get SMBs to share your content more, we recently surveyed 493 U.S. SMB principals.
Bredin Fastcast: Supporting Your SMB Sales Team with ContentBredin, Inc.
One of the biggest challenges our clients in SMB marketing have is collaborating with their sales colleagues to develop effective sales materials. A key part of this challenge is knowing exactly what SMBs want from a salesperson, and when to engage with them.
To find out how you can better connect with SMBs via sales content, we recently surveyed 386 U.S. SMB principals.
Supporting Your SMB Sales Team with ContentBredin, Inc.
One of the biggest challenges our clients in SMB marketing have is collaborating with their sales colleagues to develop effective sales materials. A key part of this challenge is knowing exactly what SMBs want from a salesperson, and when to engage with them.
To find out how you can better connect with SMBs via sales content, we recently surveyed 386 U.S. SMB principals.
What technology are small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) most likely to buy this year, and next? How does technology contribute to their success? What do they want from a technology provider? Why do they make a purchase decision to buy?
To find out, we surveyed more than 500 U.S. SMB principals.
This document reports on the results of a survey of 312 small and medium sized business principals in the United States about their business outlook, challenges, preferred topics and formats for receiving business advice. Some key findings include: three quarters of SMBs expect revenue to increase in 2017, top challenges are customer acquisition and cost management; SMBs most often seek information online about technology and industry trends; email newsletters are a highly useful format for receiving business tips and advice, especially for very small businesses. The report provides additional details on preferences by company size and respondent age.
Business.com Small Business Pulse 2013 Lead Generation InsightsBusiness.com
Business.com conducted an extensive survey of over 500 B2B companies about their lead generation efforts. This report summarizes that data and provides analysis on how marketers are using lead generation, what fields and types of leads are most valuable, and how they are nurturing those leads after they receive.
E Marketing PowerPoint Presentation SlidesSlideTeam
Explore our E Marketing PowerPoint Presentation Slides to showcase your online marketing plan. Digital marketing system PowerPoint complete deck contains visually appealing slides such as digital marketing key statistics, digital marketing channels, email marketing strategies, budget dashboard, pay per click advertising, statistics, strategies, budget dashboard, search engine optimization, display advertising, social media marketing, content marketing, ROI on digital marketing, digital marketing roadmap, and many more. The presentation deck is fully editable so that users can alter text, color, font size if they wish to, and present it in the shortest possible time. Using our internet marketing presentation design users can discuss the outcome and impact of online marketing on business. This comprehensive deck is perfect to measure the effectiveness of digital marketing campaign. Make an important marketing decision with this content ready fully editable online marketing channels PowerPoint templates. Download digital marketing medium presentation slides to explain the importance of online marketing and its advantages.
E‐mail marketing’s popularity is attributable to its low cost, high ROI (Return‐On‐Investment) and focus on customer retention. While the economic crisis will force retailers to cut back on many important marketing and technology initiatives, e‐mail programs will survive relatively unscathed.
Odds are your marketing budget has felt the negative impact of growing concerns over the worldwide economy. Small businesses and large corporations alike have been forced to erase entire sections of their 2009 marketing “wish list” in response to a bleak economic forecast that has many marketers evaluating the cost‐effectiveness and ROI of previously ironclad marketing vehicles.
Amid the turmoil, e‐mail marketing has remained a staple due to its cost‐effectiveness and flexibility. At a fraction of a penny per message, the value of an e‐mail campaign compared to an expensive direct mail communication is substantial. However, getting the most from your e‐mail marketing campaigns
during tough economic times may require a different approach than what you’ve done before.
Bredin Fastcast: Getting SMBs to Share Your ContentBredin, Inc.
As a marketer to small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), your company probably uses content marketing to drive awareness and engagement, enhance your brand, nurture prospects, close sales and retain customers. If so, you’re probably facing a key challenge of content marketing: getting SMBs to share your content with their peers.
To find out how you can get SMBs to share your content more, we recently surveyed 493 U.S. SMB principals.
Bredin Fastcast: Supporting Your SMB Sales Team with ContentBredin, Inc.
One of the biggest challenges our clients in SMB marketing have is collaborating with their sales colleagues to develop effective sales materials. A key part of this challenge is knowing exactly what SMBs want from a salesperson, and when to engage with them.
To find out how you can better connect with SMBs via sales content, we recently surveyed 386 U.S. SMB principals.
Supporting Your SMB Sales Team with ContentBredin, Inc.
One of the biggest challenges our clients in SMB marketing have is collaborating with their sales colleagues to develop effective sales materials. A key part of this challenge is knowing exactly what SMBs want from a salesperson, and when to engage with them.
To find out how you can better connect with SMBs via sales content, we recently surveyed 386 U.S. SMB principals.
What technology are small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) most likely to buy this year, and next? How does technology contribute to their success? What do they want from a technology provider? Why do they make a purchase decision to buy?
To find out, we surveyed more than 500 U.S. SMB principals.
This document reports on the results of a survey of 312 small and medium sized business principals in the United States about their business outlook, challenges, preferred topics and formats for receiving business advice. Some key findings include: three quarters of SMBs expect revenue to increase in 2017, top challenges are customer acquisition and cost management; SMBs most often seek information online about technology and industry trends; email newsletters are a highly useful format for receiving business tips and advice, especially for very small businesses. The report provides additional details on preferences by company size and respondent age.
Business.com Small Business Pulse 2013 Lead Generation InsightsBusiness.com
Business.com conducted an extensive survey of over 500 B2B companies about their lead generation efforts. This report summarizes that data and provides analysis on how marketers are using lead generation, what fields and types of leads are most valuable, and how they are nurturing those leads after they receive.
E Marketing PowerPoint Presentation SlidesSlideTeam
Explore our E Marketing PowerPoint Presentation Slides to showcase your online marketing plan. Digital marketing system PowerPoint complete deck contains visually appealing slides such as digital marketing key statistics, digital marketing channels, email marketing strategies, budget dashboard, pay per click advertising, statistics, strategies, budget dashboard, search engine optimization, display advertising, social media marketing, content marketing, ROI on digital marketing, digital marketing roadmap, and many more. The presentation deck is fully editable so that users can alter text, color, font size if they wish to, and present it in the shortest possible time. Using our internet marketing presentation design users can discuss the outcome and impact of online marketing on business. This comprehensive deck is perfect to measure the effectiveness of digital marketing campaign. Make an important marketing decision with this content ready fully editable online marketing channels PowerPoint templates. Download digital marketing medium presentation slides to explain the importance of online marketing and its advantages.
E‐mail marketing’s popularity is attributable to its low cost, high ROI (Return‐On‐Investment) and focus on customer retention. While the economic crisis will force retailers to cut back on many important marketing and technology initiatives, e‐mail programs will survive relatively unscathed.
Odds are your marketing budget has felt the negative impact of growing concerns over the worldwide economy. Small businesses and large corporations alike have been forced to erase entire sections of their 2009 marketing “wish list” in response to a bleak economic forecast that has many marketers evaluating the cost‐effectiveness and ROI of previously ironclad marketing vehicles.
Amid the turmoil, e‐mail marketing has remained a staple due to its cost‐effectiveness and flexibility. At a fraction of a penny per message, the value of an e‐mail campaign compared to an expensive direct mail communication is substantial. However, getting the most from your e‐mail marketing campaigns
during tough economic times may require a different approach than what you’ve done before.
This document provides an e-marketing plan for a footwear and clothing shop called Motive located in Dublin, Ireland. The plan uses the SOSTAC framework and includes the following:
1. A situation analysis using PEST analysis to understand the political, economic, social, and technological factors impacting the business.
2. Objectives to expand the business online to better serve customers and increase/retain customers.
3. A strategy to use social media and eventually a website while maintaining an undifferentiated targeting approach.
4. Tactics including using social networking sites and the specific SOSTAC elements to implement the plan.
20130423 e mailmarketing market trends +ma + profilesRon Belt
1) The document summarizes key trends in the email marketing industry from 2011-2016, including increased focus on targeted emails, analytics, and mobile optimization.
2) Social media integration is also a major trend, with Facebook producing the best results. Around half of marketers saw improved performance from combining social and email.
3) The market for email marketing is expected to grow significantly over this period, especially in the Netherlands where spend is forecast to more than double from €177M to €360M.
In the rush to digital, B2B marketers have ignored a crucial element that salespeople and buyers need: direct human interaction. Sales teams know that calls close customers, and 97% of B2B technology buyers want direct interactions with the provider during the research and purchase process. So why have we left voice conversations behind?
In this webinar, Invoca CMO Eric Holmen and guest Forrester Analyst Lori Wizdo examine:
-Why the inbound call channel is crucial for B2B sales and marketing teams
-Why customer preferences should dictate a non-linear customer life cycle
-How to integrate the human channel into your digital world, and get more buyers calling
The document discusses strategic planning and different business models for e-marketing. It explains that strategic planning identifies an organization's goals for growth and competitive position. E-business and e-marketing strategies use information technology to achieve objectives and competitive advantages. Common e-business models include activity-level models like online sales and advertising, as well as business process models and enterprise models. The Balanced Scorecard framework assesses performance across four perspectives: customer, internal, innovation/learning, and financial.
1. The document provides a benchmark study of cost-per-lead (CPL) advertising across different industry verticals based on research from Pontifex, a marketplace connecting companies to interested consumers through CPL pricing.
2. On average, CPL prices vary based on the industry and number of consumer contact fields collected, with prices generally higher for more fields. Common lead engagement strategies by industry include e-newsletters, social communities, and loyalty programs.
3. Methodology notes the study analyzed over 709 campaigns from August 2008-July 2009 with a minimum spend of $5,000. CPL pricing does not account for emerging media.
The document discusses the market potential for Salesforce CRM in Bangalore based on a survey of 80 companies. The survey found the market potential to be 31.25%, with logistics having the highest potential at 33.3%. Key findings include that IT adoption among SMBs is low, with many using only basic communication and collaboration tools. While awareness of cloud-based CRM is growing, most non-users see no need for additional tools beyond email. The survey recommends creating more awareness of CRM's benefits and targeting sales/marketing teams and IT heads to increase adoption.
This document discusses how transpromo marketing, which involves including promotional messages on existing customer communications like invoices and statements, can help companies grow revenues with lower marketing budgets. It notes that transpromo messages have a high read rate since customers open communications they need to address. Using transpromo allows companies to communicate more frequently with customers while reducing production and mailing expenses. Adding color headlines and graphics to envelopes can significantly increase open rates. Overall, transpromo is an affordable way to maintain marketing messages and grow revenues.
6 Steps to boost your prospect funnel and sales conversion rate with truly in...Helen McInnes
How to come up with a "big idea" for a PR campaign, ensure you have the right content kit to drive traffic to your website and landing page that drives conversions
This document summarizes key findings from a survey of 495 construction businesses regarding their purchasing processes and preferences. Some of the main insights include:
1) Determining a prospect's preferred communication method is important, as opinions on cell phones for sales calls ranged widely.
2) Responsiveness was the most important characteristic for a sales representative, according to 79% of respondents.
3) Word-of-mouth and internet searches were the top sources for finding new vendors. Websites should be easy to find and navigate, and include pricing information.
4) Purchasing decisions are often made within a month, though some take longer, and are handled by various roles within companies.
How advocate marketing boosts lead to-revenue managementInfluitive
Despite advances in lead to revenue management practices, many B2B marketers struggle to improve conversion rates at each stage of the buying process. They have dozens of digital tools and tactics to try at each of these stages, yet many B2B marketers fail to leverage their single biggest asset for igniting revenue growth - the passion of their customers, fans and evangelists.
Join Forrester Analyst Lori Wizdo and Influitive CEO Mark Organ for their discussion on how mobilizing advocates can boost performance at every stage of the lead-to-revenue process: attract, capture, nurture, convert and expand.
Customer Acquisition & Monetization - Keys to your Business ModelDavid Skok
Presentation describing how Cost of Customer Acquisition (CAC) and Monetization (LTV) are they key elements to get right for a successful business model. Also describes the latest techniques for reducing CAC, including Inbound Marketing, and the author's own methodology: Building a Sales & Marketing Machine.
This document provides an overview of e-marketing, including its meaning, scope, and effects on traditional marketing companies. E-marketing is defined as using information technology to create, communicate, and deliver value to customers and manage customer relationships. It has several benefits, such as increasing efficiency and effectiveness, transforming marketing strategies, and adding customer value. The document also discusses topics such as e-business models, performance metrics like the balanced scorecard, creating an e-marketing plan, and analyzing the e-marketing environment and its legal/ethical issues.
From Digital Attribution to Marketing Mix ModellingPetri Mertanen
MeasureCamp Amsterdam 2018. We are good when it comes to measuring advertising but should you also thing what kind of effect other marketing P's have on sales?
The document discusses how to generate more sales through an integrated ecommerce email marketing setup. It recommends four techniques: 1) personalizing content to drive sales, 2) using vouchers for customer retention, 3) activating abandoned shopping carts to improve sales, and 4) retaining customers through a loyalty program. Implementing these techniques through an integrated platform can increase revenue by more than 20% by enabling personalized, automated experiences across channels.
The document discusses the importance of the internet for retailers like Office Depot. It notes that 33% of Office Depot's sales came from internet sales in 2008, making it the 4th largest internet retailer that year. The document also discusses how rapidly internet usage and e-commerce has grown, the rise and fall of the dot-com bubble, and different business models for e-commerce websites.
This document discusses concepts related to customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation. It covers the basic phases of CRM including acquisition, retention, understanding customers, differentiation, interaction, and personalization. It also discusses CRM architecture, channels, campaign management, databases, business intelligence, segmentation, analysis, and results measurement. Key aspects of marketing automation projects like vision, processes, customer focus, data quality, software selection, and testing are outlined.
Bredin Fastcast: Selling Telecoms Services to SMBsBredin, Inc.
SMBs are feeling pretty optimistic – and that translates into plans to invest in telecommunications services, whether to improve Internet access speed or upgrade a phone system. SMBs understand what being connected means to their business.
To find out how you can take advantage of SMB interest in your offerings, we recently surveyed over 700 U.S. SMB principals. The findings are instructive; there are some great learnings on how SMBs learn about, research and make telecoms purchase decisions; their purchase intent and timing; perceptions and trust of leading telecoms brands; SMB content marketing preferences; and how telecoms vendors can improve the sales process.
2017 SMB Cloud Summit: Scaling the Customer Acquisition Wall (Bredin)Localogy
This presentation was delivered at the first ever Local Search Association SMB Cloud Summit in San Francisco 12.7.17. For more visit: http://bit.ly/2nGhO8s
In ancient times – February 2020 – EMA research found that more than 50% of IT leaders surveyed were considering new ITSM platforms in the near future. That future arrived with a bang as IT organizations turbo-pivoted to deliver and support unprecedented levels and types of services to a global workforce suddenly working from home.
These slides—based on the webinar from EMA Research and ServiceNow—provide an informed look at building ITSM initiatives that will support business at the speed of life.
This document provides an e-marketing plan for a footwear and clothing shop called Motive located in Dublin, Ireland. The plan uses the SOSTAC framework and includes the following:
1. A situation analysis using PEST analysis to understand the political, economic, social, and technological factors impacting the business.
2. Objectives to expand the business online to better serve customers and increase/retain customers.
3. A strategy to use social media and eventually a website while maintaining an undifferentiated targeting approach.
4. Tactics including using social networking sites and the specific SOSTAC elements to implement the plan.
20130423 e mailmarketing market trends +ma + profilesRon Belt
1) The document summarizes key trends in the email marketing industry from 2011-2016, including increased focus on targeted emails, analytics, and mobile optimization.
2) Social media integration is also a major trend, with Facebook producing the best results. Around half of marketers saw improved performance from combining social and email.
3) The market for email marketing is expected to grow significantly over this period, especially in the Netherlands where spend is forecast to more than double from €177M to €360M.
In the rush to digital, B2B marketers have ignored a crucial element that salespeople and buyers need: direct human interaction. Sales teams know that calls close customers, and 97% of B2B technology buyers want direct interactions with the provider during the research and purchase process. So why have we left voice conversations behind?
In this webinar, Invoca CMO Eric Holmen and guest Forrester Analyst Lori Wizdo examine:
-Why the inbound call channel is crucial for B2B sales and marketing teams
-Why customer preferences should dictate a non-linear customer life cycle
-How to integrate the human channel into your digital world, and get more buyers calling
The document discusses strategic planning and different business models for e-marketing. It explains that strategic planning identifies an organization's goals for growth and competitive position. E-business and e-marketing strategies use information technology to achieve objectives and competitive advantages. Common e-business models include activity-level models like online sales and advertising, as well as business process models and enterprise models. The Balanced Scorecard framework assesses performance across four perspectives: customer, internal, innovation/learning, and financial.
1. The document provides a benchmark study of cost-per-lead (CPL) advertising across different industry verticals based on research from Pontifex, a marketplace connecting companies to interested consumers through CPL pricing.
2. On average, CPL prices vary based on the industry and number of consumer contact fields collected, with prices generally higher for more fields. Common lead engagement strategies by industry include e-newsletters, social communities, and loyalty programs.
3. Methodology notes the study analyzed over 709 campaigns from August 2008-July 2009 with a minimum spend of $5,000. CPL pricing does not account for emerging media.
The document discusses the market potential for Salesforce CRM in Bangalore based on a survey of 80 companies. The survey found the market potential to be 31.25%, with logistics having the highest potential at 33.3%. Key findings include that IT adoption among SMBs is low, with many using only basic communication and collaboration tools. While awareness of cloud-based CRM is growing, most non-users see no need for additional tools beyond email. The survey recommends creating more awareness of CRM's benefits and targeting sales/marketing teams and IT heads to increase adoption.
This document discusses how transpromo marketing, which involves including promotional messages on existing customer communications like invoices and statements, can help companies grow revenues with lower marketing budgets. It notes that transpromo messages have a high read rate since customers open communications they need to address. Using transpromo allows companies to communicate more frequently with customers while reducing production and mailing expenses. Adding color headlines and graphics to envelopes can significantly increase open rates. Overall, transpromo is an affordable way to maintain marketing messages and grow revenues.
6 Steps to boost your prospect funnel and sales conversion rate with truly in...Helen McInnes
How to come up with a "big idea" for a PR campaign, ensure you have the right content kit to drive traffic to your website and landing page that drives conversions
This document summarizes key findings from a survey of 495 construction businesses regarding their purchasing processes and preferences. Some of the main insights include:
1) Determining a prospect's preferred communication method is important, as opinions on cell phones for sales calls ranged widely.
2) Responsiveness was the most important characteristic for a sales representative, according to 79% of respondents.
3) Word-of-mouth and internet searches were the top sources for finding new vendors. Websites should be easy to find and navigate, and include pricing information.
4) Purchasing decisions are often made within a month, though some take longer, and are handled by various roles within companies.
How advocate marketing boosts lead to-revenue managementInfluitive
Despite advances in lead to revenue management practices, many B2B marketers struggle to improve conversion rates at each stage of the buying process. They have dozens of digital tools and tactics to try at each of these stages, yet many B2B marketers fail to leverage their single biggest asset for igniting revenue growth - the passion of their customers, fans and evangelists.
Join Forrester Analyst Lori Wizdo and Influitive CEO Mark Organ for their discussion on how mobilizing advocates can boost performance at every stage of the lead-to-revenue process: attract, capture, nurture, convert and expand.
Customer Acquisition & Monetization - Keys to your Business ModelDavid Skok
Presentation describing how Cost of Customer Acquisition (CAC) and Monetization (LTV) are they key elements to get right for a successful business model. Also describes the latest techniques for reducing CAC, including Inbound Marketing, and the author's own methodology: Building a Sales & Marketing Machine.
This document provides an overview of e-marketing, including its meaning, scope, and effects on traditional marketing companies. E-marketing is defined as using information technology to create, communicate, and deliver value to customers and manage customer relationships. It has several benefits, such as increasing efficiency and effectiveness, transforming marketing strategies, and adding customer value. The document also discusses topics such as e-business models, performance metrics like the balanced scorecard, creating an e-marketing plan, and analyzing the e-marketing environment and its legal/ethical issues.
From Digital Attribution to Marketing Mix ModellingPetri Mertanen
MeasureCamp Amsterdam 2018. We are good when it comes to measuring advertising but should you also thing what kind of effect other marketing P's have on sales?
The document discusses how to generate more sales through an integrated ecommerce email marketing setup. It recommends four techniques: 1) personalizing content to drive sales, 2) using vouchers for customer retention, 3) activating abandoned shopping carts to improve sales, and 4) retaining customers through a loyalty program. Implementing these techniques through an integrated platform can increase revenue by more than 20% by enabling personalized, automated experiences across channels.
The document discusses the importance of the internet for retailers like Office Depot. It notes that 33% of Office Depot's sales came from internet sales in 2008, making it the 4th largest internet retailer that year. The document also discusses how rapidly internet usage and e-commerce has grown, the rise and fall of the dot-com bubble, and different business models for e-commerce websites.
This document discusses concepts related to customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation. It covers the basic phases of CRM including acquisition, retention, understanding customers, differentiation, interaction, and personalization. It also discusses CRM architecture, channels, campaign management, databases, business intelligence, segmentation, analysis, and results measurement. Key aspects of marketing automation projects like vision, processes, customer focus, data quality, software selection, and testing are outlined.
Bredin Fastcast: Selling Telecoms Services to SMBsBredin, Inc.
SMBs are feeling pretty optimistic – and that translates into plans to invest in telecommunications services, whether to improve Internet access speed or upgrade a phone system. SMBs understand what being connected means to their business.
To find out how you can take advantage of SMB interest in your offerings, we recently surveyed over 700 U.S. SMB principals. The findings are instructive; there are some great learnings on how SMBs learn about, research and make telecoms purchase decisions; their purchase intent and timing; perceptions and trust of leading telecoms brands; SMB content marketing preferences; and how telecoms vendors can improve the sales process.
2017 SMB Cloud Summit: Scaling the Customer Acquisition Wall (Bredin)Localogy
This presentation was delivered at the first ever Local Search Association SMB Cloud Summit in San Francisco 12.7.17. For more visit: http://bit.ly/2nGhO8s
In ancient times – February 2020 – EMA research found that more than 50% of IT leaders surveyed were considering new ITSM platforms in the near future. That future arrived with a bang as IT organizations turbo-pivoted to deliver and support unprecedented levels and types of services to a global workforce suddenly working from home.
These slides—based on the webinar from EMA Research and ServiceNow—provide an informed look at building ITSM initiatives that will support business at the speed of life.
Peeling Back the Layers of the Small Business MarketCompTIA
The document provides an overview of opportunities and challenges for technology solution providers in the small business market. It finds that the SMB market is not monolithic, with many differentiating factors among micro, small, and medium businesses. While small businesses may seem simple, they face many of the same challenges as large enterprises. The democratization of technology has created opportunities for SMBs, but adopting new technologies remains a challenge. SMBs rely on IT providers for core needs but some disconnects exist between what SMBs need and what providers offer. There is demand among SMBs for digital business services, representing opportunities for providers, but the market requires a nuanced understanding of customer segments.
SMBs are feeling pretty optimistic: 35% of them expect to grow by double digits this year, and 10% expect to grow by more than 100%. That translates into plans to invest in telecommunications services — whether to improve internet access speed or upgrade a phone system. SMBs understand what being connected — to customers, prospects, vendors, peers, remote workers, influencers, and others — means to their business.
To find out how you can boost sales to SMBs, we recently surveyed 500 U.S. SMB principals.
Results from DATA Inc's 2009 / 2010 IT Industry Survey. Do you think this year will be different? Take this year's survey at the link below:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RFVYCDY
The document summarizes the results of a survey of 276 IT leaders on their technology priorities for the next 12 months. Key findings include:
- 51% of respondents expect their IT budgets to increase over the next year.
- Top technologies being researched/piloted include IoT, multi-cloud management, and SDN. Least interesting are blockchain, AR/VR, and open source technologies.
- The most important project for many is cybersecurity, followed by cloud infrastructure and enterprise apps.
- Challenges to deploying new technologies include lack of skills/staff and disconnect between IT and business leadership.
EMA research places AI and automation initiatives at the top of C-level technology priorities. But resistance to change, lack of experience, and the complexity of training models all hold back progress.
These slides, based on the webinar, address 5 common misconceptions about AI-powered ITSM automation and present a practical way to revolutionize IT support without changing platforms, processes, or user habits.
This document provides insights from a survey of 500 small and medium sized business owners and principals regarding their purchase timing of various business products and services. Key findings include:
1) Printers and business checking/credit cards saw the fastest purchase decisions, typically within a week, while retirement plans saw the slowest at over six months.
2) Larger SMBs made faster decisions on more complex products like servers and payroll services compared to very small businesses.
3) Slow-growth businesses made the fastest decisions on checking accounts and credit cards, while fast-growth businesses decided fastest on cellphone handsets.
4) Younger respondents aged 18-38 decided fastest on cellphone handsets, while
Get insights into EMA’s most recent research findings on enterprise service management (ESM) when you check out these webinar slides. This research examines ESM as both a logical, evolutionary extension of ITSM and as a revolutionary outgrowth of the digital transformation culture.
Streaming analytics webinar | 9.13.16 | Guest: Mike Gualtieri from ForresterCubic Corporation
Business success relies heavily on taking the right action, at the right time, all the time. And actions are dictated by data. But the batch-oriented, collect-store-contemplate model employed by Big Data Analytics technologies is incomplete because it does not make use of live data in real time. Without live, real-time data insights gathered are not up-to-date, and cannot accurately inform applications and services that would benefit from continuous, real-time context for time-sensitive decisions.
To thrive, businesses need to be able to use both live and historical data in their applications and services, continuously, concurrently, and correctly and the only technology currently capable of handling it is streaming analytics. Streaming analytics computes data right now, when it can be analyzed and put to good use to make applications of all kinds contextual and smarter.
This webinar held in collaboration with Forrester, Inc., showcased how streaming analytics applications can be built in minutes, to:
- Aggregate, enrich, and analyze a high throughput of data from multiple, disparate live data sources and in any format to identify patterns, detect opportunities, automate actions, and dynamically adapt
- Easily ingest streaming data from multiple disparate sources to multiple sources, within and between cloud and on-premises environments
- Analyze and act on data as it arrives, without needing to store, eliminating unnecessary security risks and storage costs
- Enable real-time analytics with existing business intelligence and data assets.
Based on global research from leading IT research firm EMA, these slides—based on the webinar—provide a uniquely comprehensive look at IT automation technologies in terms of what is deployed, what is most valuable, and what is lacking in today’s solutions.
The document discusses research methods for gaining insights into small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to help increase sales to this segment. It outlines both qualitative and quantitative research approaches that can provide information on attitudes, usage, buyer identification, perceptions, segmentation, behaviors and preferences. The analytics output from this research can then inform content, social media, collateral and other marketing programs. Specific awareness initiator events, roles, and content formats that drive SMBs to investigate new products and services are also examined.
How SMBs Research Applications and Other TechBredin, Inc.
Webcast recording: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/3477333486879196418
What applications do SMBs plan to acquire in 2022? How do they research technology solutions? Which media and influencers do they rely on? What messaging resonates most strongly? Which content formats do they prefer from vendors like you? Who conducts the research? And what is their business outlook, and the ongoing impact of the pandemic?
You’ll learn:
● SMB operational status and business outlook
● Technology purchase intent
● The information sources SMBs use to research products and services for their business
● The specific influencers, sites and publications that SMBs use to assess products and services for their business
● The benefits of new hardware or applications that are most important to SMBs
● The content formats that SMBs prefer from vendors like you at the consideration stage of the sales cycle
● Which role conducts product research for different tech product categories
● How SMBs want to work with a salesperson as they investigate new products for their business
● The effect of the pandemic on supplies, pricing, hiring and RTO
● What SMBs prefer to be called, for messaging
● How SMBs define their overall business goals
You’ll get terrific insights that you can put to work in your 2022 SMB marketing plans.
Positive Momentum Continues in CompTIA 2Q 2014 IT Business Confidence IndexCompTIA
The CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index continued its upward trend in Q2, marking the third consecutive quarter that information technology (IT) industry executives expressed optimism about business prospects. The index also suggests there is pent up demand among IT firms to increase their workforce. One-third of companies surveyed said they are understaffed, while 42 percent said they are fully staffed, but want to hire in order to expand.
Digital Innovation, IT and the Art of InfluenceAbbie Lundberg
A presentation based on research I conducted for Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, delivered at the St. Louis Gateway to Innovation conference.
Smb technology decision makers acbj july 2015sakabab
This 2015 proprietary research by American City Business Journals details the profile of technology decision makers in SMBs as well as considerations in the buying journey of hardware and software.
Slides and content from LinkedIn's TechConnect London event which was held on November 6th 2014 at Ham Yard Hotel, London.
Speakers included:
Bryan Glick, Editor-in-Chief, ComputerWeekly
Sumeet Vermani, Head of Paid and Earned Media, EMEA, Symantec
Nicholas Spyer, Seniore Director and GM EMEA, Social.com
Simon Morris, Director of Demand Marketing, Adobe
5 Reasons Enterprise Adoption of Spark is Unstoppable by Mike GualtieriSpark Summit
Spark adoption in enterprises is unstoppable for five key reasons:
1. Enterprises prioritize improved customer experience which requires real-time analysis of vast amounts of customer data.
2. Spark and Hadoop provide a cost-effective way to perform advanced analytics at scale on both internal and external data sources.
3. Spark allows for real-time analysis of data through its in-memory computing capabilities, unlocking the value of perishable insights.
4. Massive machine learning automation enabled by Spark is needed to automate the data science process and gain competitive advantages.
5. The diverse and innovative Spark community is helping drive the development of continuous analytics pipelines required for real-time insights.
The document summarizes the findings of the fourth survey conducted as part of The Voice of Australian Business research project. Some key findings include:
- Business confidence is beginning to weaken compared to previous surveys. Medium sized businesses are more confident about long term prospects than micro or small businesses.
- When asked about the 2016-2017 budget, around 40% of SMEs believed it would not include beneficial measures for their business. Tax simplification and corporate tax cuts were most desired.
- Over half of SMEs do not have a formal risk management process, with competitors and economic volatility viewed as the top business risks.
- Digital disruption is seen as more of an opportunity than a threat across all
Similar to Bredin Fastcast: Selling Tech to SMBs (20)
Generating and Qualifying Inbound SMB LeadsBredin, Inc.
Stu Richards was recently join by Stephen Archut, Director of Product Marketing at Explorium.ai, in a special Fastcast on Generating and Qualifying Inbound SMB Leads. In this fast-paced and informative Q&A, you’ll learn:
* The media that SMBs rely on to first learn about offerings like yours
* The content formats that work best at the top of the sales funnel
* The benefits of external data
* How to develop an effective data acquisition strategy
* The most common kinds of external data
* Data integration challenges
* How to onboard external data at scale
Watch the full Fastcast recording here - https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/8783854779455236866
SMB Business Outlook and Spending PlansBredin, Inc.
How are SMBs faring as the pandemic persists? What is their business outlook, and what are their spending plans?
In this webinar you’ll learn:
* The SMB state of mind: business outlook, operational status, and expected time to return to ‘normal’
* SMB priorities and challenges
* Key application usage and purchase plans
* Credit usage and intent – including traditional banks vs. fintech
* Job board usage and intent – including the specific sites they plan to use
* The brands that SMBs trust most
* Key differences among respondents by company size
* How all of these have changed in the past six months
You’ll get terrific insights that you can put to work in your 2022 SMB marketing plans.
Webinar recording - https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/2253221902084314883
SMB Business Outlook and Spending PlansBredin, Inc.
What is the SMB business outlook, and how confident are they about spending, hiring and expanding as the pandemic wanes? What are their priorities and concerns? What technology do they use, and what do they plan to buy? What are the key differences in SMB outlook and spending plans by size and country?
You’ll learn:
* The current SMB state of mind: business outlook, operational status, and expected time to return to ‘normal’
* SMB priorities and challenges
* Key application usage and purchase plans – including the specific SaaS solutions they plan to adopt
* Credit usage and intent – including traditional banks vs. fintech
* Job board usage and intent – including the specific sites they plan to use
* The tech brands that SMBs trust most
* Key differences among respondents by company size, country and more
We hope you watch the webcast recording - https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/8056390393923833347
How to Support and Engage SMBs During COVID-19Bredin, Inc.
COVID-19 has been grinding on relentlessly for ten months now, taking a heavy toll on countless small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). 1.85 million businesses closed completely or temporarily in the second quarter, according to Oxxford; in April, the National Restaurant Association found that four in ten restaurants had already closed. Despite encouraging vaccine news, it will be months before business returns to any semblance of normal. So in the meantime, we wanted to find out how SMBs are coping – and what you can do to support and engage them effectively.
You’ll learn:
• SMB perspectives on the effect of COVID-19 on their business
• How COVID-19 has changed SMB priorities
• How SMB staffing has changed
• When SMBs will return to their workplaces
• What SMBs want vendors like you to do to help them manage through the crisis
• Which vendors have been especially helpful
• How COVID-19 has changed SMB content consumption
• What SMBs want in your content
• The effect of advisory content on acquisition and retention
• The topics SMBs want to learn about from vendors like you
The pandemic has forced many SMBs to reassess their application infrastructure to boost productivity and better support distributed teams. Selling SaaS solutions in this environment raises a number of key questions, though, such as: How familiar are SMBs with the cloud? What cloud solutions are they using? Which are they considering adopting next? What is motivating their cloud adoption? Who do they want to buy from, and what do they want from cloud solution providers?
To answer these questions – and to help you sell the cloud more effectively to SMBs – we recently surveyed 500 U.S. SMB principals.
Improving the small business banking experienceBredin, Inc.
How much do small business owners (SBOs) trust different industries, including banks, credit unions and alternative lenders? What do small businesses want from the bank relationship? What are banks doing well, and what can they do better, to improve the customer experience – and as a result, acquisition, retention and cross-sell? What kinds of credit are SBOs using – or do they plan to use – from banks and alternative lenders? How are SBO attitudes towards, and planned usage of, alternative lenders evolving?
To answer these questions, we recently surveyed 500 U.S. SBOs. There are some great learnings on what SBOs value in a lender relationship, and what you can do to enhance it.
You’ll learn:
• The SBO business outlook
• SBO trust in 26 different industries, from alternative lenders to wireless service providers
• SBO awareness of and trust in 27 leading banks
• Bank industry, and top bank, Net Promoter Scores
• What SBOs want in a bank relationship
• Where banks are under- and over-performing against SBO preferences
• Current use and providers of credit products – including business credit cards, savings and checking accounts, loans, LOCs, factoring and MCAs
• Planned use and potential providers of credit products
• How SBO attitudes towards alternative lenders have changed
• SBO usage of and satisfaction with banking apps and events
• The impact of content marketing on bank brand perception, loyalty and upsell
• How to boost awareness and trust via content marketing
You’ll get valuable insights to put to work right away in your SBO customer experience and content marketing plans.
The document provides data from an online survey of 500 small and medium sized business principals in the United States regarding their business challenges. The top challenges reported were customer acquisition (35% said very challenging) and managing costs (23% said very challenging). The data is broken down by various company characteristics such as size, revenue, outlook, age, gender, geography, and industry to show differences in challenges faced.
This document provides an overview of insights from a survey of 500 small and medium sized business principals regarding their motivations for purchasing products and services. The key findings are that customer service is the most important consideration overall when making purchases, but productivity is also a high priority. Younger principals place more emphasis on customer acquisition than older principals. Fast growing businesses prioritize customer service while slow growing businesses value customer acquisition opportunities more. Manufacturers uniquely value both customer service and cost savings equally when making purchase decisions.
This document analyzes survey results from 500 small and medium-sized business principals regarding factors that influence their awareness of new products and services. The key findings are:
1) SMB principals see themselves as the leading influencer of product awareness for their businesses, followed by their business partners or sales/marketing staff depending on company size and revenue.
2) Fast-growing SMBs, startups, and younger respondents are especially reliant on their marketing staff and consultants for new product awareness.
3) Male entrepreneurs are more influenced by their head of finance, while manufacturers are especially reliant on peers and colleagues.
What do SMBs plan to buy in 2020? How do they make purchase decisions – who is involved, and how long does it take in key product categories? What resources do they use to conduct product research, and make a purchase decision? What messaging resonates best with this large and diverse segment? What can vendors do to make it easier for them to buy?
To answer these questions – and more – we recently surveyed 500 U.S. SMB principals. You’ll learn:
• SMB business outlook and challenges
• What SMBs plan to buy in 2020 in major purchase categories such as tech, financial services, travel and more
• Who conducts research, and makes the purchase decision
• How long the decision-making process takes for key product categories
• The role of peers and consultants
• Purchase channel preferences
• The media that work best to engage SMBs across the sales cycle
• The messaging that works best with SMBs
• The role of content in boosting sales
How familiar are small and medium businesses (SMBs) with the cloud? What cloud solutions are they using? Which are they considering adopting next? What is motivating their cloud adoption? Who do they want to buy from, and what do they want from cloud solution providers?
To answer these questions – and to help you sell the cloud more effectively to SMBs – we recently surveyed 500 U.S. SMB principals.
In this report you’ll learn:
What keeps SMBs up at night
The terminology that works best with SMBs when discussing the cloud
The applications SMBs use today
SMB application adoption plans
Which applications SMBs use in the cloud – and their migration outlook
How freemium services drive adoption
Why SMBs adopt cloud solutions
How SMBs rank cloud benefits
The channels SMBs prefer
What SMBs want from a cloud vendor
You’ll get actionable insights to put to work in your 2020 SMB marketing plans.
This document summarizes the results of a survey of 500 small-to-medium sized business (SMB) principals about their hiring outlook, preferences, and vendor perceptions. Key findings include:
- Most SMBs did not hire in 2018 but those with over 20 employees did. Hiring plans for 2019 are similar, with larger SMBs planning to hire more.
- Finding qualified candidates is the top hiring challenge, especially in a tight labor market. The hiring process that takes the most time is finding and selecting candidates.
- Larger SMBs are more likely to have dedicated HR staff while most principals handle hiring themselves. SMBs want high quality candidates from hiring services and value cost and ease of use
Improving the Small Business Customer ExperienceBredin, Inc.
How much do small business owners (SBOs) trust different industries, including financial services such as banking and alternative lending? What do small businesses want from the bank relationship? What are banks doing well, and what can they do better, to improve the customer experience – and as a result, acquisition, retention and cross-sell? What kinds of credit are SBOs using – or do they plan to use – from banks and alternative lenders? How are SBO attitudes towards, and planned usage of, alternative lenders evolving?
To answer these questions, we recently surveyed 500 U.S. SBOs. There are some great learnings on what SBOs value in a lender relationship, and what you can do to enhance it.
• The SBO 2019 business outlook
• SBO trust in 26 different industries, from alternative lenders to wireless service providers
• SBO awareness of and trust in 28 leading banks and over 50 alternative lenders
• Bank and alternative lender industry Net Promoter Scores
• What SBOs want in a bank relationship
• Where banks are under- and over-performing against SBO preferences
• Current use and providers of credit products – including business credit cards, savings and checking accounts, loans, LOCs, factoring and MCAs
• Planned use and potential providers of credit products
• How SBO attitudes towards alternative lenders have changed
• SBO preferred contact media
• SBO usage of and satisfaction with banking apps and events
• The impact of content marketing on bank brand perception, loyalty and upsell
• How to boost awareness and trust via content marketing
You’ll get valuable insights to put to work right away in your SBO customer experience and content marketing plans.
How many SMBs are there? What is an SMB, anyway? How are SMBs alike, and how do they differ in their business concerns and outlook? What industries are they in? How is the rate of business formation changing? What do SMBs plan to buy in 2019, and what are the most effective tactics to engage them? What messaging resonates best with this large and diverse segment?
To find out, we surveyed 500 U.S. SMB principals and compiled third-party data to provide a comprehensive overview of the SMB market.
You’ll learn:
• How SMB is defined
• How many SMBs are in each major industry
• The changing rate of business formation
• How SMBs rate their business outlook and challenges
• What SMBs plan to buy in 2019
• The media that work best with SMBs across the sales cycle
• The messaging that works best with SMBs
You’ll get valuable insights to put to work right away in your 2019 SMB marketing program.
Through every change in marketing technology, the email newsletter has remained one of the most effective tools in the SMB marketer’s kit. Because of its importance, we surveyed 500 U.S. SMB principals to better understand the role email newsletters play in today’s dynamic marketing environment.
In this SlideShare you’ll learn:
• How SMBs rate their business outlook and challenges
• The formats and topics SMBs are most interested in
• Which industries SMBs most want email newsletters from, and from which they’re already subscribed
• The content mix they prefer
• Where SMBs are most likely to subscribe to an email newsletter
• What gets SMBs to forward an email newsletter to colleagues
• The effect of an email newsletter program on awareness, brand perception and purchase propensity
You’ll get valuable insights to put to work right away in your SMB email newsletter program.
Improving the Small Business Customer ExperienceBredin, Inc.
It’s a common perception that small businesses think all banks are alike. They don’t. Their experience with, and perceptions of, different banks vary widely. And that means that the fortunes of banks serving SBOs can also vary widely.
To help you improve SBO customer experience — and as a result, acquisition, retention and revenue — we recently surveyed 500 U.S. small business principals. The findings are instructive; there are some great learnings on what SBOs want from their bank – and how they feel about your company.
How Much Do Influencers Influence SMBs?Bredin, Inc.
One of the topics we heard about most in 2017 was influencers, especially in the B2C world. For B2SMB marketers, though, influencer campaigns raise a number of questions: What role should influencers play? Which influencers can motivate your customers? What’s the profile of an SMB influencer? How can influencers be used most effectively?
To find out, Bredin surveyed over 300 U.S. SMB principals.
The document discusses a survey of 307 SMB principals regarding their cloud application usage and adoption plans. Key findings include:
- "Cloud application" was the best known cloud-related term among those surveyed. Term familiarity increased with company size and decreased with respondent age.
- Accounting software was the most popular application currently used by SMBs, while marketing automation was most likely to be hosted in the cloud.
- Over half of respondents expected to increase their use of cloud applications in the next two years, with improved reliability and security cited as major drivers of cloud adoption.
- Larger SMBs placed more importance on improved reliability as a reason for cloud adoption compared to smaller SMBs.
Millennial entrepreneurs are quickly replacing retiring Boomers. How can banks serve this huge, diverse and technology-adept audience? You’ll learn:
• The business challenges Millennials face – and the opportunity that creates for banks
• The bank transaction preferences of Millennial entrepreneurs
• Their loan application activity and experience – and the challenge for traditional banks
• Awareness and perceptions of alternative lenders
• Bank brand perceptions and switching likelihood
Why bridging the gap between PR and SEO is the only way forward for PR Profes...Isa Lavs
The lines between PR and SEO are blurring. SEOs are increasingly winning PR briefs by leveraging data and content to secure high-value placements. In this presentation, I explore the merging of PR and SEO, highlighting why SEO specialists are increasingly taking ‘PR’ business. I uncover the hidden SEO potential using PR tactics and discuss how to identify missed opportunities. I'll also offer insights into strategies for converting PR initiatives into successful link-building campaigns.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Women-Focused MarketingHighViz PR
Women centric marketing is a vital part in reaching one of the most influential groups of consumers. Here is a guide to know and measure the impact of women-centric marketing efforts-
From Subreddits To Search: Maximizing Your Brand's Impact On RedditSearch Engine Journal
The search landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, and Reddit is at the epicenter. Google's Helpful Content Update and its $60 million deal with Reddit, coupled with OpenAI's partnership, have catapulted Reddit's real-time content to unprecedented heights.
Check out this insightful webinar exploring the newfound importance of Reddit in the digital marketing landscape. Learn how these changes make Reddit an essential platform for getting your brand and content in front of evolving search audiences.
You’ll hear:
- The evolution of Reddit as a major influencer on SERPS over the years.
- The impact of recent changes and partnerships on Reddit’s place in search.
- A comprehensive look at Reddit, how it works, and how to approach it.
- Unique engagement opportunities presented by Reddit.
With Brent Csutoras, a Reddit expert with over 18 years of experience on the platform, we’ll delve into the intricacies of Reddit's communities, known as Subreddits, and how to leverage their power without compromising authenticity or violating community guidelines in the age of AI-driven search experiences.
Don't miss this opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and leverage Reddit for your brand's success.
The Future of B2B Audience Targeting with LinkedInTajul Islam
Tired of pouring money into LinkedIn ads that don't convert?
A marketer’s guide to unlocking the full potential of LinkedIn’s extensive targeting resources and partner tools.
There's a better way. This guide unlocks the secrets to laser-targeting your ideal B2B audience on LinkedIn. Forget generic campaigns. We'll show you how to combine LinkedIn's advanced features with your existing customer data to reach high-value decision-makers directly. Imagine reaching the exact companies and people who can benefit most from your product or service.
Download our free eBook and discover a data-driven approach to LinkedIn marketing that delivers real results. Stop chasing the wrong audience – start targeting the right ones today
HEM Webinar - Navigating the Future - Social Media Trends for 2024 in Educati...Higher Education Marketing
Explore our comprehensive slides on the 2024 social media landscape, tailored for educators and marketing professionals in the field of education. With more than 5 billion social media users worldwide and an average individual engagement across as many as seven platforms monthly, understanding these dynamics is crucial for effective educational outreach. Our slides delve into the pivotal trends and strategic adaptations necessary for thriving in this digital arena. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your strategies with our expert insights.
Advanced Storytelling Concepts for MarketersEd Shimp
Every marketer knows you’re supposed to tell a story, but do you know how to tell a story? Do you know why you’re supposed to tell a story? Do you even truly know what a story is? While many marketing presentations emphasize the value of mythic storytelling, the nuts and bolts of actually constructing a story are never explored.
The goal of marketing may be to achieve specific KPIs that drive sales, which is very objective, but the top of the marketing funnel requires a softer approach. In our data-driven results-oriented fast-paced world, marketers must quantify results, but those results will never be achieved unless prospects are first approached with humanity.
There is a common misunderstanding that the so-called “soft skills” of marketing such as language and art are unmeasurable and subjective, but while the objective measures of market research are merely 100 years old, the rules of aesthetics have been perfected over the last 2,500 years.
Great story construction is a skill that requires significant knowledge and practice. This presentation will be a review of the ancient art of story construction.
We will discuss:
• Rhetoric – The art of effective communication
• The Socratic Method – You cannot teach, but you can persuade people to learn
• Plato’s Cave – You sell products, but you market ideas
• Aristotle’s Six Dramatic Elements – The secret recipe for marketing stories
This is for senior marketers who are tasked with creating effective narratives or guiding others in the process. By the end of the session, attendees will have gained the knowledge needed to work storytelling into all phases of the buyer’s journey.
THE STORY COMMUNICATION Credential 2024.pptxhuyenngo62
The Story Communication là công ty quảng cáo truyền thông tích hợp (IMC) được xây dựng trên thế mạnh về Digital & Performance.
#Assemble #Integrity #Transformation #Initiative
Meta Revolutionizes Product Promotion with Automated Video Catalog Ads.pptxprovidenceadworks416
As a digital marketer, I am thrilled to see Meta revolutionizing product promotion with its new automated video catalog ads. This innovative feature allows anyone to seamlessly integrate dynamic video content into my catalog product ads, enhancing the visual appeal and engagement of campaigns. By leveraging Meta's advanced AI and machine learning capabilities, one can automatically deliver tailored video ads to the most interested users, boosting traffic and conversions. This new approach not only simplifies the ad creation process but also significantly improves performance and ROI.
Facebook Marketing Strategy with SNJ Global Services.pptxsarfrazkhanm47
Explore the potential of Facebook marketing with SNJ Global Services. We specialize in targeted ad campaigns and engaging content strategies to enhance your brand's visibility and drive conversions. Discover more about our solutions at SNJ Global Services:
https://snjglobalservices.com/.
Facebook Marketing Strategy with SNJ Global Services.pptx
Bredin Fastcast: Selling Tech to SMBs
1. Selling Tech to SMBs
September 15, 2016
Bredin, Inc.
www.bredin.com
617-674-7882
2. Content Marketing Market Research
Increasing SMB Acquisition, Engagement and Retention
2
3. 3
Research Objective
Help tech marketers better understand and sell
to SMBs
• SMB business outlook and challenges
• How SMBs learn about, research and decide on tech
• Drivers of tech purchases, and preferred channel
• Tech purchase timeframe and budgets
• Brand awareness and trust
• Use, and trust, of tech consultants
• Tech purchase attributes: importance and
performance
• The role of content marketing in tech sales
4. Methodology
How
• 15-minute online survey via the Bredin.com/smbpulse
Who
• 312 principals of U.S. companies with <500 employees (5.5%+/- CI)
• 112 with <20 employees (97.7% weighting)
• 100 with 20-99 employees (1.9% weighting)
• 100 with 100-500 employees (.3% weighting)
• Any industry
• See slides 50-54 for participant demographics
When
• August 3 – 8, 2016
1
2
3
4
6. 6
Almost two in three SMBs expect an up year
2016 Business Outlook
n=312, unweighted
What is your revenue outlook for 2016, compared to 2015?
4%
5%
29%
29%
33%
Down by 10% or more
Down, by less than 10%
Same as 2015
Up, by less than 10%
Up by 10% or more
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Down by 10% or more
Down, by less than 10%
Same as 2015
Up, by less than 10%
Up by 10% or more
1-19 20-99 100-500
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Down by 10% or more
Down, by less than 10%
Same as 2015
Up, by less than 10%
Up by 10% or more
18-34 35-49 50+
Company size Respondent Age
7. 7
SMBs are most likely to
learn about new
technology from their
peers
Awareness Sources
n=311
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (very unlikely) to 5
(very likely), please rate how likely
you are to first learn about
technology products or services
for your business via each of these
specific sources / formats.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Radio
Instagram
Audio podcast
Banner / display ad
Pinterest
Outdoor billboard or signage
Infographic
Twitter
Press release
LinkedIn
Interactive tool
Blog
Case study
Analyst report
YouTube
One-off email
eBook / guide / handbook
White paper
Forum or discussion board
Facebook
Research report
External / third-party IT (or other) consultant
Postcard, letter or catalog in the mail
TV
Webinar / webcast
In-house IT (or other) staff
Call or meeting with vendor sales representative
Product section of vendor’s website
Print newsletter
Video on vendor’s website
Resources section of vendor’s website
Newspaper / magazine (print or online)
Email newsletter
Event or trade show
Peer / colleague
8. 8
SMB principals are intimately involved in tech product research
Research Lead
n=309
Once your company has decided to investigate a new technology product or service for your
business, who typically leads the research?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Other
An external consultant
My IT manager
My office manager
Me
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Other
An external consultant
My IT manager
My office manager
Me
1-19 20-99 100-500
9. 9
SMBs are most likely to
research tech solutions via
search, and their peers
Research Sources
n=311
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (very unlikely) to 5
(very likely), please rate how likely
you are to use each of these
sources / formats when you are
researching technology products
or services for your business.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Outdoor billboard or signage
Pinterest
Radio
Instagram
Audio podcast
Banner / display ad
Twitter
Infographic
One-off email
External / third-party IT (or other) consultant
Interactive tool
Press release
Webinar / webcast
Analyst report
In-house IT (or other) staff
White paper
TV
YouTube
Case study
LinkedIn
eBook / guide / handbook
Postcard, letter or catalog in the mail
Newspaper / magazine (print or online)
Blog
Forum or discussion board
Call or meeting with vendor sales representative
Facebook
Research report
Print newsletter
Resources section of vendor’s website
Video on vendor’s website
Email newsletter
Product section of vendor’s website
Event or trade show
Peer / colleague
Search
10. 10
SMB principals are the primary tech purchase decision-maker
Purchase Lead
n=310
Once your company has researched a new technology product or service for your business, who
makes the final technology purchase decision?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
An external consultant
My IT manager
Other
My office manager
Me
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
An external consultant
My IT manager
Other
My office manager
Me
1-19 20-99 100-500
11. 11
SMBs are most likely to rely
on their peers to make a
final tech purchase
decision
Purchase Sources
n=311
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (very unlikely) to 5
(very likely), please rate how likely
you are to use each of these
sources / formats to make a final
purchase decision on technology
products or services for your
business.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
Outdoor billboard or signage
Press release
Radio
Instagram
Infographic
eBook / guide / handbook
TV
Audio podcast
Banner / display ad
Twitter
Forum or discussion board
LinkedIn
Case study
Blog
Pinterest
Interactive tool
White paper
Webinar / webcast
Analyst report
Postcard, letter or catalog in the mail
YouTube
Newspaper / magazine (print or online)
External / third-party IT (or other) consultant
Print newsletter
In-house IT (or other) staff
Research report
Call or meeting with vendor sales representative
One-off email
Facebook
Video on vendor’s website
Email newsletter
Resources section of vendor’s website
Product section of vendor’s website
Event or trade show
Search
Peer / colleague
12. SMB Purchase Process Map
Resources section of
vendor’s website
Newspaper / magazine
(print or online)
Email newsletter
Event or trade show
Peer / colleague
New Product
Awareness
Email newsletter
Product section of
vendor’s website
Event or trade show
Peer / colleague
Search
New Product
Research
Resources section of
vendor’s website
Product section of
vendor’s website
Event or trade show
Search
Peer / colleague
Purchase
Decision
Video on vendor’s website Video on vendor’s website Email newsletter
12
13. 13
Data security is a key driver of new tech purchases
Tech Purchase Drivers
n=311
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (not at all important) to 5 (very important), please rate each of these possible
reasons for purchasing new technology for your business:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Reduce IT costs
Current solution is dated / not working well
Improve employee productivity
Keep up with changes in customers’ use of technology
Take advantage of a growth opportunity
Improve performance / business processes
Improve data security
14. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Reduce IT costs
Current solution is dated / not working well
Improve employee productivity
Keep up with changes in customers’ use of
technology
Take advantage of a growth opportunity
Improve performance / business processes
Improve data security
1-19 20-99 100-500
14
Smaller SMBs are less motivated to buy technology
Tech Purchase Drivers: Company Size
n=311
Top-two box
unweighted
On a scale of 1 (not at all important) to 5 (very important), please rate each of these possible
reasons for purchasing new technology for your business:
15. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Reduce IT costs
Current solution is dated / not working well
Improve employee productivity
Keep up with changes in customers’ use of
technology
Take advantage of a growth opportunity
Improve performance / business processes
Improve data security
No growth Slow growth Fast growth
15
Fast growth is a strong driver of tech purchasing
Tech Purchase Drivers: 2016 Business Outlook
n=311
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (not at all important) to 5 (very important), please rate each of these possible
reasons for purchasing new technology for your business:
16. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Reduce IT costs
Current solution is dated / not working well
Improve employee productivity
Keep up with changes in customers’ use of
technology
Take advantage of a growth opportunity
Improve performance / business processes
Improve data security
18-34 35-49 50+
16
Baby Boomers are least motivated to buy technology
Tech Purchase Drivers: Respondent Age
n=311
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (not at all important) to 5 (very important), please rate each of these possible
reasons for purchasing new technology for your business:
17. 17
SMBs are most likely to buy or upgrade cellphones this year
Tech Purchase Timing
n=varies
What is your best guess as to when you will buy new / additional, or upgrade, each of these
technologies for your business? Please pick the most likely option in each row; pick the soonest
option if you will do any given thing multiple times.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Phone system
Other system software, e.g. virtualization, network management
Database software
Routers / switches / wireless access points
Operating systems
Tablets
Onsite servers and storage
PCs / laptops / desktops
Printers / copiers / faxes
Cellphone(s)
By the end of 2016 In 2017 After 2017
18. 18
SMBs are most likely to get inventory mgmt., marketing automation and survey SW this year
Software Status
n=varies
Which, if any, of these kinds of software or apps do you currently have, or will you acquire?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Survey administration
Fleet management
Marketing automation
Analytics (other than website analytics)
CRM / sales force automation
Production management
Web / video conferencing
Social media management
Website analytics
Inventory management
Mobile payments
HR / payroll / benefits administration
Design / illustration
File sharing
Expense management
Accounting / financial management
Office productivity suite
Storage / file backup
Security software
Email
Already have Will get by the end of the year Will get in 2017 Will get after 2017
19. 19
SMBs are most likely to invest in new or upgraded software / apps
Tech Budgets
n=varies
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
New / upgraded hardware
New / upgraded software / apps
Other IT maintenance / consulting / support
Custom software / app development
$0 / n/a Less than $1,000 $1,000 to $4,999 $5,000 to $9,999 $10,000 to $49,999
$50,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $499,999 $500,000 to $1 million More than $1 million
Roughly how much will your company spend in total this year on:
20. 20
Tech spend correlates with company size…
Tech Budgets: Company Size
n=varies, unweighted
Roughly how much will your company spend in total this year on:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
100-500
20-99
1-19
New / upgraded hardware
100-500
20-99
1-19
New / upgraded software / apps
100-500
20-99
1-19
Other IT maintenance / consulting / support
100-500
20-99
1-19
Custom software / app development
$0 / n/a Less than $1,000 $1,000 to $4,999 $5,000 to $9,999 $10,000 to $49,999
$50,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $499,999 $500,000 to $1 million More than $1 million
21. 21
…and respondent age
Tech Budgets: Respondent Age
n=varies
Roughly how much will your company spend in total this year on:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
50+
35-49
18-34
New / upgraded hardware
50+
35-49
18-34
New / upgraded software / apps
50+
35-49
18-34
Other IT maintenance / consulting / support
50+
35-49
18-34
Custom software / app development
$0 / n/a Less than $1,000 $1,000 to $4,999 $5,000 to $9,999 $10,000 to $49,999
$50,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $499,999 $500,000 to $1 million More than $1 million
22. 22
The purchase process is fastest for printers
Purchase Process Length
n=varies
On average, how long does it take from beginning to conduct research on these technology
products and services for your business until you make a purchase or upgrade decision?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Other system software, e.g. virtualization, network management
Database software
Onsite servers and storage
Operating systems
Routers / switches / wireless access points
Phone system
Tablets
PCs / laptops / desktops
Cellphone(s)
Printers / copiers / faxes
A week A month Three months Six months A year More than a year
23. 23
SMBs are most aware of Google
Brand Awareness
n=varies
On a scale of 1 (not at all aware) to 5 (very aware), please rate your awareness of (or familiarity
with) each of these technology firms:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
GoDaddy
Cisco
Pitney Bowes
Symantec
Lenovo
Twitter
Lexmark
Intuit
LinkedIn
Comcast
Epson
Panasonic
Xerox
Adobe
Sony
Canon
Facebook
IBM
Intel
Dell
Verizon
AT&T
Apple
HP
PayPal
Microsoft
Amazon
Google
5 (Very aware) 4 3 (Somewhat aware) 2 1 (Not at all aware)
24. 24
Awareness varies greatly among tech companies
Brand Awareness (continued)
n=varies
On a scale of 1 (not at all aware) to 5 (very aware), please rate your awareness of (or familiarity
with) each of these technology firms:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Zenefits
8x8
RingCentral
Concur
Hootsuite
Box
Weebly
Sage
Avaya
Ingram Micro
Zendesk
EMC
Tech Data
VMware
Wix
Cox Business
Citrix
DocuSign
Salesforce
Charter / Spectrum Business
SAP
Konica Minolta
Ricoh
CenturyLink
Oracle
Brother International
Dropbox
5 (Very aware) 4 3 (Somewhat aware) 2 1 (Not at all aware)
25. 25
Amazon is the most trusted brand
Brand Trust
n=varies
Using the scale of 1 (do not trust at all) to 5 (trust very much), please rate your trust in each of these
technology firms:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Oracle
Panasonic
Symantec
AT&T
Brother International
Cisco
Facebook
Citrix
Hootsuite
Intuit
Zenefits
DocuSign
Epson
Dell
EMC
Xerox
Verizon
Google
Canon
Adobe
Sony
Apple
HP
PayPal
IBM
Intel
Microsoft
Amazon
5 (Trust very much) 4 3 (Trust somewhat) 2 1 (Do not trust at all) Don't know / no opinion
26. 26
As with awareness, trust varies widely
Brand Trust (continued)
n=varies
Using the scale of 1 (do not trust at all) to 5 (trust very much), please rate your trust in each of these
technology firms:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Tech Data
Zendesk
CenturyLink
Concur
Charter / Spectrum Business
Twitter
Cox Business
Salesforce
Weebly
Pitney Bowes
Ingram Micro
SAP
Avaya
Sage
Wix
RingCentral
Comcast
Ricoh
Dropbox
Konica Minolta
Lexmark
8x8
GoDaddy
LinkedIn
Lenovo
Box
VMware
5 (Trust very much) 4 3 (Trust somewhat) 2 1 (Do not trust at all) Don't know / no opinion
27. Amazon, Microsoft and PayPal are best positioned
Brand Awareness vs. Trust
Awareness
Trust
High awareness, high trustLow awareness, high trust
High awareness, low trustLow awareness, low trust
28. 28
SMBs are most likely to buy printers direct from the manufacturer
Tech Purchase Channel
n=varies
For each of these product categories, please indicate whether you would rather purchase them
from a tech consultant or direct from the manufacturer:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Servers and storage
System software (e.g. operating systems, databases etc.)
Application software (e.g. office productivity, email marketing, etc.)
Routers / switches / wireless access points
Phone systems
Cellphones / tablets
PCs, desktops, laptops
Printers / copiers / faxes
Direct from the manufacturer Tech consultant
29. 29
Larger businesses are generally more likely to buy from consultants…
Tech Purchase Channel: Company Size
n=varies
unweighted
For each of these product categories, please indicate whether you would rather purchase them
from a tech consultant or direct from the manufacturer:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
100-500
20-99
1-19
Servers and storage
100-500
20-99
1-19
System software
100-500
20-99
1-19
Application software
100-500
20-99
1-19
Routers / switches / wireless access points
100-500
20-99
1-19
Phone systems
100-500
20-99
1-19
Cellphones / tablets
100-500
20-99
1-19
PCs, desktops, laptops
100-500
20-99
1-19
Printers / copiers / faxes
Direct from the manufacturer Tech consultant
30. 30
…as are younger SMB principals
Tech Purchase Channel: Respondent Age
n=varies
For each of these product categories, please indicate whether you would rather purchase them
from a tech consultant or direct from the manufacturer:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
50+
35-49
18-34
Servers and storage
50+
35-49
18-34
System software
50+
35-49
18-34
Application software
50+
35-49
18-34
Routers / switches / wireless access points
50+
35-49
18-34
Phone systems
50+
35-49
18-34
Cellphones / tablets
50+
35-49
18-34
PCs, desktops, laptops
50+
35-49
18-34
Printers / copiers / faxes
Direct from the manufacturer Tech consultant
31. 31
Most SMBs do not use a tech consultant
Tech Consultant Status
n=310
What, if any, kind of tech supplier / consultant do you have? (select all that apply)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Phone hardware / software consulting, installation, service etc.
Hardware repair ("break / fix")
Hardware / software consulting, installation, service etc.
Managed service provider, for any kind of service
None
32. 32
…although the larger the company, the more likely they are to use a tech consultant
Tech Consultant Status: Company Size
n=310
unweighted
What, if any, kind of tech supplier / consultant do you have? (select all that apply)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Phone hardware / software consulting, installation, service etc.
Hardware repair ("break / fix")
Hardware / software consulting, installation, service etc.
Managed service provider, for any kind of service
None
1-19 20-99 100-500
33. 33
Older respondents are less likely to use a tech consultant
Tech Consultant Status: Respondent Age
n=310
What, if any, kind of tech supplier / consultant do you have? (select all that apply)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Phone hardware / software consulting, installation, service etc.
Hardware repair ("break / fix")
Hardware / software consulting, installation, service etc.
Managed service provider, for any kind of service
None
18-34 35-49 50+
34. 34
SMBs generally trust tech consultants
Tech Consultant Trust
n=varies
Top-two box
Using the same scale of 1 (do not trust at all) to 5 (trust very much), please rate your trust in your
local tech supplier / consultant:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Managed service provider, for any kind of service
Phone hardware / software consulting, installation, service etc.
Hardware / software consulting, installation, service etc.
Hardware repair (“break / fix”)
35. 35
‘Simple pricing’ is most important to SMBs when considering a tech purchase
Tech Purchasing: What’s Important
n=308
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important), please rate the importance of each
of these aspects of purchasing technology:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Online service / support / maintenance
Tailored to companies my size
Tailored to my industry
Vendor is a leader in its sector
Easy upgrade path
Phone service / support / maintenance
Vendor is easy to do business with
Compatibility with my existing technology
Low initial cost
Easy to learn / use
Proven technology
Easy to set up / implement
Low lifetime cost
Vendor pricing is simple, clear and all-inclusive
36. 36
Discounts and trials are not perceived as critical
Tech Purchasing: What’s Important (continued)
n=308
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important), please rate the importance of each
of these aspects of purchasing technology:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Vendor provides business management advice, i.e. articles and
tips on technology, marketing etc.
Vendor provides case studies or access to reference customers
Large market share / install base
Recommendations / ratings by third-party experts
(for software) Hosted in the cloud
Vendor provides a free trial or money-back guarantee
Vendor provides a special offer / discount / incentive
Recommendations / ratings by peers
Availability of training
New / cutting edge technology
(for software) Resident on my PCs / servers / mobile devices
Vendor’s brand / reputation
Onsite service / support / maintenance
37. 37
SMBs rate tech vendors highest on solution setup
Tech Purchasing: Vendor Performance
n=307
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (not at all well) to 5 (extremely well), please rate how well your technology vendors
/ consultants in general perform on each of these aspects:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Onsite service / support / maintenance
Tailored to companies my size
Vendor is a leader in its sector
New / cutting edge technology
Phone service / support / maintenance
Online service / support / maintenance
Vendor pricing is simple, clear and all-inclusive
(for software) Resident on my PCs / servers / mobile devices
Compatibility with my existing technology
Vendor’s brand / reputation
Proven technology
Easy to learn / use
Vendor is easy to do business with
Easy to set up / implement
38. 38
Access to reference customers is an area of opportunity for tech vendors
Tech Purchasing: Vendor Performance (continued)
n=307
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (not at all well) to 5 (extremely well), please rate how well your technology vendors
/ consultants in general perform on each of these aspects:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Vendor provides case studies or access to reference customers
(for software) Hosted in the cloud
Large market share / install base
Vendor provides business management advice, i.e. articles and
tips on technology, marketing etc.
Recommendations / ratings by third-party experts
Vendor provides a special offer / discount / incentive
Low lifetime cost
Vendor provides a free trial or money-back guarantee
Tailored to my industry
Easy upgrade path
Recommendations / ratings by peers
Low initial cost
Availability of training
39. SMBs see costs as the biggest disparity when buying tech
Importance vs. Performance
39
Importance
Performance
40. 40
…however, they are generally satisfied with IT value
Tech Perceptions
n=306
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), please rate each of these statements about
technology vendors and technology solutions for your business:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Our company prefers hosted or cloud-based technology solutions
Our company prefers to outsource as much technology as
possible
Our company struggles with using / integrating many different
software solutions / applications
Mobile technology / applications are essential to our business
success
New technology is exciting for our business
Our company is reluctant to move to the cloud because of
security, performance or disaster recovery
I am happy with the customer service / problem resolution that our
technology vendors provide
It is important to our company to customize technology for our
needs
Our company sees technology as essential to our business
success
Our investments in technology have generally been positive /
worthwhile
41. 41
Better access to product information and purchase would facilitate sales
Simplifying Tech Purchasing
n=305
What could technology vendors do to make it easier to buy from them? Please select all that apply.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Other
Make it easy for me to select the right configuration / specs for my
company, for example through an interactive quiz or configurator
Recommend solutions for my company based on prior purchases, or
purchases of companies like mine
Better describe how their solutions help my company achieve its business
goals
Provide more / better articles, research reports, tips etc. to help me
understand how technology can help me achieve my business goals
Let me chat with customers whose businesses are like mine
Provide an easy, consistent purchase experience across multiple channels
(e.g. online, mobile, in store, call center etc.)
Provide examples of how their solutions have helped companies in my
industry
Make it easy for me to get questions answered on their site via instant
online / phone chat
Make it easy for me to research and buy their products online without
having to talk to a sales rep
42. 42
SMBs are most likely to have read marketing content from PC manufacturers
Content Consumption, by Vendor Type
n=300
Please select all of the kinds of vendors you have read business and technology management
advice (articles, blog posts, tips etc.) from:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Local telephone consultant
Managed service provider
Server / storage manufacturers
Router / switch / wireless access point manufacturers
Local IT consultant
Phone system manufacturers
Application software (office productivity, email marketing, etc.)
manufacturers
System software (operating systems, databases etc.) manufacturers
Printer / copier / fax manufacturers
Cellphone / tablet manufacturers
PC / desktop / laptop manufacturers
43. 43
…however, they rate content from router manufacturers as most useful
Content Value, by Vendor Type
n=varies
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (not at all useful / valuable) to 5 (extremely useful / valuable), please rate the overall
value of the business and technology management advice you’ve read from each of these kinds of
technology vendors:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Phone system manufacturers
Local telephony consultant
Printer / copier / fax manufacturers
PC / desktop / laptop manufacturers
Cellphone / tablet manufacturers
System software (operating systems, databases etc.)
manufacturers
Server / storage manufacturers
Managed service provider
Application software (office productivity, email marketing, etc.)
manufacturers
Local IT consultant
Router / switch / wireless access point manufacturers
44. Preferred Topics: General
44 n=312
Top-two box
On a scale of 1 (never) to 5 (very often), how often do you go online to find content on the
following topics to help you manage and grow your business?
SMBs are most interested in content on technology, and their industry
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Import / export
Human resources
Leadership and management
Law and taxes
Financial planning and management
Operations
Sales and marketing
Industry news and trends
Technology
45. 45
From tech vendors, SMBs want tech and operations advice
Preferred Topics: Tech Vendors
n=310
Top-two
Please rank-order these topics on which you would like technology vendors to provide business
and technology management advice, from most important (top) to least important (bottom)
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
Import / export
Human resources
Leadership and management
Sales and marketing
Law and taxes
Industry news and trends
Financial planning and management
Operations
Technology
46. 46
SMBs most want an email newsletter from tech vendors, followed by print pieces
Preferred Formats
n=308
Top-two
Please rank-order the formats in which you would like technology vendors to provide business and
technology management advice from most preferred (top) to least preferred (bottom)
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
LinkedIn post
Twitter
Audio podcast
Blog post
Webinar / webcast
Infographic
Facebook post
Interactive tool, e.g. quiz, calculator, configurator
Peer forum or discussion board
Analyst report
Checklist / worksheet
Video
Online eBook / guide / handbook
Case study
Article
White paper
Research report
Printed sheet, booklet or guide
Email newsletter
47. 47
Content marketing drives acquisition, retention and brand perception
Effect of Content Marketing
n=varies
Please indicate whether the business and technology management advice you’ve read from
technology vendors:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Makes me more likely to become a customer of that vendor
Makes me more likely to remain a customer of that vendor
Makes me think more favorably of that vendor
% Yes
48. Your To-Do’s
48
Stu Richards, CEO
stu@bredin.com
Twitter: @SBDF
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔ Take advantage of peer reference, and events / trade shows
Provide robust product information and easy online purchase
Keep your content focused on your brand domain
Get the full report at bit.ly/2cMbrrS
Offer an email newsletter, resource center and videos if you’re not already
52. 22%
33%
45% 0 to 5 Years
6 to 10 Years
10+ Years
36%
32%
32% 1-19 Employees
20-99 Employees
100-500 Employees
52
Company Size
Years in Business
n=312
n=307
Sample Characteristics
53. 33%
29%
29%
5% 4%
Up by 10% or more
Up, by less than 10%
Same as 2015
Down, by less than 10%
Down by 10% or more
53
2016 Revenue Growth
n=312
2015 Revenue
37%
17%
46%
Less than $500k
$500k to $999k
$1M+
n=311
Sample Characteristics