When it comes to your small business, are you comfortable with taking risks? Have you ever experienced the thrill of successfully trying new marketing channels because your competition is? Maybe you’re enjoying the comfort of your current, reliable campaigns? You may feel overwhelmed by large business growth strategies, but marketing strategies are not one-size-fits-all. Small business is different from big business. By exploring tested, successful small business-specific marketing strategies, you give your small business a safe way to expand into uncharted, potentially viral territory. We’re happy to share some good news – taking risks doesn’t have to be scary. Especially if we look at how other SMBs are crafting their marketing plans and using them as a guidepost. Join our webinar to discover tested strategies that align with your small businesses to help you maximize marketing ROI. You’ll learn: -Where SMB marketers are taking chances and reaping the rewards. -How SMBs decide where to be bold and where to play it safe. -How to calculate marketing risks. Join Amelia Northrup-Simpson, Marketing Manager at CallRail, as she shows you how you can easily measure the actionable results of trying new marketing strategies. 65% of SMBs who didn’t test a new channel in the past year worry that their company will lose business to competitors because they don’t have an effective marketing strategy. Don’t miss out on new customers and increased revenue. Gain confidence as you discover how risks are proven to be worth the reward.

2. “Do one thing that scares you every day.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
Safely trying new strategies
2

3. Whatʼs the last thing you did that felt scary?
(professional or personal life)
Safely trying new strategies
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4. Whatʼs one thing youʼre thinking about
doing for your business that feels scary?
Safely trying new strategies
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5. Letʼs put experimentation in context.
Safely trying new strategies
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6. We asked!
Safely trying new strategies
6
601
Respondents by job title:
Account Manager: 19%
Marketing Account Analyst: 15%
Marketing Manager: 12%
Account Executive: 8%
Marketing Designer: 6%
Office Manager: 6%
Director of Marketing Services: 5%
Other: 29%
US-based marketers
Company Revenue:
$0 - $99k: 24%
$100k- $499k: 12%
$500k - $999k: 18%
$1M - $10M: 18%
$10M - $50M: 12%
$50M - $90M: 7%
$100M+: 2%

7. Marketing Risk
vs. Reward
How small- to medium-sized
businesses calculate marketing
risks and where to take them
Download the report

8. Agenda
Agenda
1. Businesses like yours are experimenting
2. Risks are worth the reward
3. The risk of not experimenting
4. New vs. proven channels
5. Tracking strategies for mitigating risk
8

9. 1
Marketing can be risky business
but small- to medium-sized
businesses are taking a gamble

10. 91% of marketers have tested a new marketing
channel or emerging trend in the last 12 months
80% of marketers have tested a new experimental
marketing campaign in the last 12 months
Businesses like yours are experimenting
10

11. The top social media
channels marketers
are expanding into
Businesses like yours are experimenting
11

12. Social media
channels
opportunity to gain new business for
small- to medium-sized businesses
Businesses like yours are experimenting
12
Competing with peers
➔ 66% say it's very easy to somewhat easy to
compete with other small- to
medium-sized businesses on social media
Competing with larger brands
➔ 61% say it's very easy to somewhat easy to
compete with larger brands on social media

13. Which of these are you considering doing
by the end of 2022? (select all that apply)
❏ trying a new channel
❏ using a new tagline
❏ revamping company colors
❏ using a new logo
❏ launching a new ad campaign
❏ trying a new offer
Businesses like yours are experimenting
13

14. Top types of
experimental
campaigns
Businesses like yours are experimenting
14

15. 2
Worth it?
The risks are proving to be worth the reward

16. Source: Marketing Risk vs. Reward, CallRail
Marketing risk = worth the reward

17. Itʼs working… right?
96% of marketers say their efforts have resulted
in an increase in customers
Marketing risk = worth the reward
17

18. Marketing risk = worth the reward
Source: Marketing Risk vs. Reward, CallRail

19. Marketing risk = worth the reward
19

20. Marketing risk = worth the reward
20

21. 3
The risk of not experimenting
Some small- to medium-sized businesses
are holding back on risk-taking

22. What if things go wrong?
The risk of not experimenting
22

23. What if things go wrong?
What if things go right?
The risk of not experimenting
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25. Just 9% of marketers say they didn't test a new channel
or campaign in the past year
Only 12 marketers out of 601 believe that experimental
campaigns are too risky for their company's reputation
The risk of not experimenting
25

26. What's holding back would-be risk-takers?

27. The risk of not experimenting
For businesses that arenʼt
taking risks, there is a real risk their
competitors will take the lead

28. 4
New vs. proven
Small-to medium-sized businesses are
spending more on new channels, but proven
tactics still hold sway

29. New vs. proven
Approximately what percentage of your annual marketing budget
is allocated to the following categories?
Source: Marketing Risk vs. Reward, CallRail

30. New vs. proven
Source: Marketing Risk vs. Reward, CallRail

31. Biggest barrier to risk-taking?
83% of marketers say leadership at their company is
hesitant to invest more money into marketing
67% of marketers say it is hard to get buy-in from
leadership on potential new channels
New vs. proven
31

32. 85% of marketers say that testing new
media channels is a worthwhile
financial investment for their company
New vs. proven
32

33. Why risk it?
We asked the 15%.
New vs. proven
33
Of the 15% of marketers who don't believe
risk-taking is worth it financially, here's
why they're holding back.
➔ 88% say they'd rather put money into more
proven campaigns
➔ 60% say if risks are unsuccessful, it could be
detrimental to their company's revenue
➔ 72% say that their marketing budget is not big
enough to take any risks

34. Case study:
3 men movers
Itʼs working…right?
New vs. proven
34

35. Case study:
3 men movers
Calls from Yelp ads were being
attributed to organic traffic.
True conversion rate: 25% (top performer)
New vs. proven
35

36. 5
Itʼs working… right?
Better tracking capabilities
would lead to more experimentation

37. Itʼs working… right?
Better tracking=more experimentation
37

38. Better tracking=more experimentation
Source: Marketing Risk vs. Reward, CallRail

39. 64% of marketers say they don't
have an easy/trusted way to prove
if something is working
Better tracking=more experimentation
39

40. 59% say an inability to gauge which marketing
channels are producing results is a barrier to
pursuing experimental campaigns
55% say they don't have the data to justify taking
risks with emerging trends
53% say they don't have the data to justify taking
risks with new media
Better tracking=more experimentation
40

41. Top tools marketers are using to track ROI:
● 58% analytics tools
● 47% call tracking
● 43% form tracking
Better tracking=more experimentation
41

42. Better tracking=more experimentation
42
“Have a goal”

43. Better tracking=more experimentation
43
“Have a goal”
… and have a tracking plan.

44. Example:
“We want 3,000 views on our campaign-related
TikTok reels from September 1-30.”
Better tracking=more experimentation
44
✓ Specific
✓ Measurable
✓ Achievable
✓ Relevant
✓ Timebound

45. Example:
We want 3,000 views on our campaign-related
TikTok reels from September 1-30.
We expect momentum to build during the month-long campaign (or not).
We will send progress reports via email weekly with how we are pacing
towards goal and with follow-up actions if weʼre behind.
Better tracking=more experimentation
45

46. Example: We need 70 qualified leads from our Q4
campaign.
How do we know where leads are coming from?
How will we track qualified vs. not?
How/when will we reallocate spend throughout the campaign?
Better tracking=more experimentation
46

47. Example: We need 70 qualified leads from our Q4
campaign.
➔ How do we know where leads are coming from?
➔ How will we track qualified vs. not?
➔ How/when will we reallocate spend throughout the campaign?
Better tracking=more experimentation
47

48. Attribution:
evaluating the marketing touchpoints a consumer
encounters on their path to purchase
Better tracking=more experimentation
48
➔ First Touch = a customer is aware of your
company.
➔ Lead Creation = a customer has contacted your
company.
➔ Qualified = a customer is qualified as potential
revenue.

49. What is lead intelligence?
Better tracking=more experimentation
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➔ understand how leads interact with your marketing
➔ equips your frontline teams to actually close the deal
➔ gives you the data you need to generate more of your best leads

50. Follow every interaction with Call Tracking
CallRail
When a prospect searches for your business and clicks
on your Google ad, theyʼll see a unique phone number
to call from your pool of call tracking numbers.
Once they call the tracked number, you gain an array of
prospect intelligence and continue collecting insights as
they engage with you in the future.
Serve each prospect a unique
tracked phone number.

51. Improve your marketing ROI with Conversation
Intelligence, which you can use to transcribe
calls, tag and qualify leads, and gain insights
into what your leads are saying.
As you understand how your marketing efforts
are driving leads you can determine what
marketing to invest in to increase your volume
of qualified leads.
1. Qualify leads with automation 2. Attribute leads by Source
Seeing your cost per lead from all sources
can help your marketing efforts become
more agile.
3. Determine Cost per Lead
Follow every interaction with Call Tracking

52. Example: We need 70 qualified leads from our Q4
campaign.
We expect steady growth through end of November, with 25% fewer
leads in December.
We will report weekly via Slack on qualified leads and plan to adjust
marketing spend initially on October 20 based on cost per lead in each
channel.
Better tracking=more experimentation
52

53. Success Story: OEO
53
“CallRail told us which sources were working and
which were not. Since then, weʼve literally saved
more than $100,000 by no longer placing
advertisements in the channel we thought was a
huge market driver for us. Now, we can focus the ad
spend elsewhere to better maximize our ROI!”
-Desire Einarsen, OEO
Better tracking=more experimentation

54. What did we learn?
Safely trying new strategies
54

56. The risks are proving to be worth the reward.
Not taking risks is actually risky business.

58. What are you going to do
this quarter that scares you?
Safely trying new strategies
58

59. Marketing Risk
vs. Reward
How small- to medium-sized
businesses calculate marketing
risks and where to take them
Download the report