If you are a small-to-medium sized business owner, you may wonder where you fit into the overall picture of business within the United States. Today, we are dedicating our post to SMB statistics to show you just how valuable your business is, and what you can do improve your digital marketing in the internet-driven economy.
SMB Marketing Statistics
You may think your SMB is insignificant in the grand scheme of things, however, the economic landscape is shifting, and you may be as surprised as we were with some of the statistics we found regarding small businesses in the United States.
Since 1982 the number of small businesses in the nation has increased by 49%. Share on X
Increases in small business have created over 8 million new jobs since 1990. Share on XIt is estimated that 543,000 small businesses launch each month. Share on X
Small business has created over 65% of new job creation seen since 1995. Share on X Small businesses are credited with producing over 50% of non-farm private GDP. Share on X This GDP equals roughly 6 trillion dollars. Share on X
SMB Online Marketing Statistics
Now that you know what a valuable part of the economy your business is, you are probably wondering what the numbers are regarding SMB marketing. The below stats are useful in figuring out where to focus your money and time, in order to best grow your business effectively and efficiently.
70% of SMBs are spending $500 or less monthly on marketing efforts. Share on X
75% of SMBs find internet marketing to be effective in attracting new customers to their business. Share on XFinding news customers is the top marketing concern for 66% of small business owners. Share on X
Over 40% of SMBs consider customer retention the top priority in their marketing efforts. Share on XEmail, website, and social media are the top three marketing platforms used by small business owners. Share on X
83% of SMB owners with a business website consider themselves to have an advantage over competitors. Share on X
55% of small business owners plan to establish a website within the next two years. Share on X
Conversion Optimization SEO Statistics
Once you are aware of the massive shift to online marketing for small businesses like yours, it is important to focus your money in the most strategic ways to convert potential customers into customers. The below statistics provide some interesting insights on the topic. Furthermore, improving your online reputation is a huge deciding factor for your audience when choosing between you and your competitor!
For those adopting content marketing, website conversion rates are 6x higher than their peers Share on X Before making purchases, 61% of consumers read reviews online Share on X Averages show conversion rates from search engines to be 10% more than from social media channels Share on X When it comes to mobile searches, the first search result has a 31.35% CTR Share on X When it comes to desktop searches, the first search result has a 34.36% CTR Share on X Approximately 22% of businesses stated satisfaction with their current conversion rates Share on X A 7% reduction in conversion rates can result from a delay of 1 second in site speed Share on X Lead generation conversion rates average 7% Share on X 54% of companies cite a lack of resources for low conversion rates Share on X Automation is shown to increase conversion rate averages from 2.6% to 3.6% Share on X
Email Marketing Statistics
If you are considering incorporating email marketing into your online marketing strategy, or even if you are not, the below statistics show just how significant this method of online marketing can be, especially for SMBs.
Using email to attract new customers is 40 times more effective than using Facebook or Twitter Share on X Including the recipient’s first name within the subject line increases the click through rate Share on X 87% of people use search engines, with 78% of them searching for goods and services Share on X Out of the links clicked on from search engines, 70% are organic (not paid) Share on X By 2021, there are estimated to be over 3 billion email users globally Share on X Approximately two-thirds of all emails are opened on tablets or smartphones Share on X CTR on marketing emails has been shown to decrease as number of inline images increases Share on X As of 2015, Gmail had more than 900 million users worldwide Share on X Emails with no personalization have an 11.4% open rate compared to 17.6% for personalized emails Share on X 86% of consumers want to get emails from businesses at least once a month, while 15% prefer daily emails Share on X
Content Creation Statistics
Still on the fence about a company blog? Consider how the below content creation and blogging statistics fit into SEO, and you may change your mind. Already have a blog? Let these statistics encourage you to grow your content marketing strategy – one of the most affordable ways for SMBs to improve SEO.
Want to produce 3x more leads for every $1 spent? Content marketing does just that! Share on X 40% of US-based businesses use blogging in their marketing strategy Share on X On average, blogs give websites a 97% increase in indexed links and a 434% increase in indexed pages Share on X Companies creating 15 blog entries a month report 1,200 leads generated monthly Share on X Of companies using a blog as part of their inbound marketing, 79% report positive ROI Share on X 53% of marketers consider content creation to be their most effective method of SEO Share on X Brands that blog have 434% more indexed pages than their competitors with no blogs Share on X Blog titles containing 6-13 words have been shown to perform the best Share on X 60% of inbound marketers consider creation of blog content to be their top priority Share on X Within Google, content with a word count between 1,140 and 1,285 performed the best Share on X
Local SEO Statistics
So you have your SMB website set up and ready-to-go! You have SEO in place to target customers around the globe. However, you are still not convinced local SEO is important for your brand. How much business could local SEO really drum up? The answer is: A LOT. If you are still on the fence about incorporating local SEO into your SMB website, the list of statistics below may finally change your mind!
SEO Statistics
And if you still haven’t had enough, consider these general statistics on the importance of SEO for small businesses like yours.
Among marketing experts, 61% utilize responsive web design in their SEO strategy Share on X Incoming calls generated from search engines are increasing by 42% annually Share on X There are more than 10.3 million Google searches each month Share on X Inbound leads (like SEO) cost on average 61% less than outbound leads Share on X Of the links users click on from search engine results, 70% are organically generated Share on X 40% of marketing professionals site changing algorithms as their top SEO challenge Share on X Of marketers, 72% considered content creation to be their most effective method of SEO Share on X In the U.S. and Japan, more Google searches took place on mobile devices than on desktops Share on X 48% of marketers consider utilizing keyword their most effective SEO tactic Share on X 4 out of 5 consumers said they utilized search engines for local queries Share on X
As a small business owner, you are an extremely valuable part of the U.S. economy, and it is important to market your business accordingly. Whether you need to create an online presence for the first time with a company website, or simply need to improve your local SEO, these statistics demonstrate it is time to grow your online marketing efforts in order to grow your small-to-medium sized business.
General Sources: Forbes, SBA.gov
Online Marketing Sources: GoDaddy, Blue Corona, SearchEngineLand
Conversion Optimization SEO Sources: Marketing Adept, Kissmetrics, Unbounce, HubSpot, Impact Branding & Design, Intechnic.com
Email Marketing Sources: Web Presence Solutions, HubSpot, Intechnic.com
Content Creation Sources: HubSpot, Forbes, SearchEngineJournal, Impact Branding & Design , Intechnic.com
Local SEO Sources: BrightLocal, Business2Community, SearchEngineJournal
SEO Sources: Impact Branding & Design, SearchEngineJournal, HubSpot, Web Presence Solutions