According to our Local Commerce Monitor™ data  the main driver of adoption of new technology for SMBs is cost and ease of use. Ascend2 and Research Partners in their recent State of Digital Marketing/SMB Benchmarks 2016 look deeper into the what and why SMBs adopt channels. The main reason: ease of use.  Familiarity plays into the ease of use and this is also reflected in the top barriers to success. The top barriers are not analytics or performance, but lack of internal skills and training aka familiarity. According to the Ascend2 and Research Partner’s study email and websites were rated the easiest, with SEO and social media being the hardest to use. Our LCM data on SMBs that DIY and those that Do it For/With Me echo this with top channels are similar — Facebook, email and websites.

According Ascend2’s study,  70% SMBs say they outsource some if not all their digital marketing and primarily the most difficult to execute.  In our LCM survey 51.3% of Do it Yourself SMBs pay for assistance in updating their digital properties (social, websites, SEO) and 70% of Do-it-for/with-Me SMBs.