Plus Spender SMBs showed a wide diversity in media usage in BIA/Kelsey’s most recent Local Commerce Monitor™ (LCM) survey, Wave 17. Plus Spender SMBs consist of SMBs that spend an average of over $75,000 annually on media advertising and promotion. This is in sharp contrast to the Core sample, for which the average annual media spend is under $3,000.

Social Media usage grew slightly year over year, while mobile usage showed significant growth. Traditional media, such as broadcast and newspaper, took a hit from the previous year.

Three of Plus Spender SMBs highest advertising and marketing priorities for the next 12 months are analytics, mobile and social.

— 62% of Plus Spender SMBs ranked Analytics as a very high or extremely high priority.

— 55.5% ranked Social Media as very or extremely high priority.

— 55% ranked Mobile as very or extremely high priority.

Core SMBs do not place as much urgency and emphasis on these marketing priorities as Plus Spenders.

Unlike Core SMBs, which tend to rely on their own data, Plus Spender SMBs want empirical information on media performance, analytics, customer comments in social media, etc.

Mobile has huge traction with Plus Spender SMBs. 44.5% report having a mobile website and 53.6% report they accept payments via a credit card reader. Core SMBs, on the other hand, have a long way to go with mobile as only 15% have a mobile website and 28% reporting accepting payments via a credit card reader.

Plus Spender SMBs are also more committed and sophisticated in their use of social media than Core SMBs, with 72% reporting they’re “extremely or very” engaged with their customers, compared to 61% of Core SMBs. 73% of Plus Spender SMBs monitor online comments about them, compared to 57% of Core SMBs.

Plus Spender SMBs already have an established digital presence on social, search and mobile — the opportunity lies in managing their engagement with customers through their digital properties.

We’ll be hosting a webinar and diving into the details about Plus Spender SMBs in the next few weeks.

For more information on BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor, check here.