Direct Mail* remains the most used traditional media, according to Wave 20 of our Local Commerce Monitor™ survey of small businesses (Q3/2016), with 41.0% of small businesses using it for advertising or promotion. Direct mail has been the top #1 traditional…
Digital advertising continues to grow and provide many options for advertisers and the average number of media used by small and medium businesses is increasing. Traditional media channels (which includes direct mail, broadcast, radio, outdoors, direct to home, yellow pages,…
Franchisees use an average of 20 different advertising channels to reach customers, according to Wave 20 of our Local Commerce Monitor™ survey of small businesses (Q3/2016). "It’s more important than ever to be where the customer is, whether in print, online…
The question of "when it comes to content which is better, long form or short form?" came up during a case study panel at BIA/Kelsey’s NEXT conference. Our panel attendees, who are leaders from major local marketing companies, had a lot…
"Content is not King, it's the Emperor" said Constant Contact's Heather Jackson during a case study panel at BIA/Kelsey's NEXT conference on Tuesday. According to Heather, the biggest hurdle small businesses have is trying to come up with content. Constant…
Millennials prefer to be coached, not managed... according to Kimberli Lewis of Global Business Therapy. We often focus on the challenges women face in the workforce as opposed to how women can use their strengths to be more effective and get…
80% of small and medium businesses will use at least one social media channel for advertising and promotion in 2017. That was one of the takeaways from the opening session of BIA/Kelsey's NEXT conference in Boston when analysts from BIA/Kelsey gave their predictions…
In the spirit of the holidays and gift lists, BIA/Kelsey offers up our 2nd annual Holiday Wish List for SMBs. So what products and services are small and medium businesses most interested in adding to their marketing activities in 2017? In Wave 20 of…
According to data from Wave 20 (Q3/2016) of BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor™ annual survey of small and medium businesses (SMBs), about 15% of the 1,000 SMBs surveyed reported using funds from a co-op program, down slightly from 18% in Wave 19 (Q3/2015). 25% of…
Pinterest is not the only place consumers go for inspiration and planning -- in fact adding print to digital helps consumer recall."Print ads (in magazines) can be read more leisurely, and be more evocative; they can encourage readers to fantasize, to put themselves…
Small businesses are feeling more optimistic about their businesses and industries, according to BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor™ survey of small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). Two new questions added in Wave 20 (3Q/2016) of our survey deal with SMBs' feelings regarding revenue changes in…
According to a study from Teads and eMarketer more advertisers are turning to mobile video for brand awareness. The Teads study found that advertisers liked that mobile video helped increase brand awareness and enabled them to reach more targeted audiences. The top disadvantages…
Franchisees are more likely to use, and spend for, the newest media, platforms and technology, according to BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor™ survey of small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). Franchisees were more likely to use newer mobile platforms, such as mobile websites, tap-to-pay…
When it comes to online shopping, consumers are more likely to turn to their mobile devices than a computer, according to a new study. Demandware Shopping Index (Q1/2016) analyzed the shopping activities of 400 million shoppers worldwide and found that 47%…
There is a tremendous opportunity for marketing automation sellers to engage SMBs with search engine optimization (SEO) combined with social marketing solutions. SEM/SEO services topped the list of future marketing priorities for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs)* that spend on average of $75,000…
According to BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor™ survey of small and medium businesses (SMBs), 18.4% of the SMBs in the survey report using co-op advertising funds. Of these, 45.2% are franchisees or licensees of larger national companies -- most owning between one and five…
Co-op advertising programs are popular with SMBs, particularly larger SMBs, according to our Local Commerce Monitor , Wave 19 (Q3/2015). Our Plus Spenders are SMBs that spend more than $25K annually on advertising and more than a third (39.3%) of this…
Recently Pinterest introduced several new e-commerce features that it hopes will encourage its 100 million monthly users to buy items through its website. "These features are a big step in helping Pinterest become more of a shopping hub," said company founder and CEO Ben Silbermann. Buyable…
SMBs that use video* for advertising and promotion (Video SMBs) have more aggressive advertising spending plans than those that don't use video, according to BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor™ survey of small and medium businesses (SMBs). The average annual ad spend for Core** video…
In BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor™ nearly a third of small businesses in the financial services vertical opt for a “do it with/for me” model. This is the largest percent among our vertical categories with most opting for "do it myself". Financial…