Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
93% of small business owners use Facebook to market their business.
73% of marketers believe that their efforts through social media marketing have been somewhat effective or very effective for their business.
LinkedIn makes up more than 50% of all social traffic to B2B websites and blogs.
68% of online experiences begin with a search engine.
53% of all trackable website traffic comes from organic search.
Small businesses with blogs get 126% more lead growth than those without.
Email marketing has an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent.
81% of SMBs rely on email as their primary driver for customer acquisition.
Welcome emails have an incredibly high open rate of 82%.
47% of small business owners spend less than $10,000 on digital marketing annually.
Digital advertising spending worldwide is projected to reach $645 billion by 2024.
For every $1 spent on Google Ads, businesses earn an average revenue of $2.
75% of users admit to making judgments about a company’s credibility based on their website’s design.
88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience.
It takes about 0.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website.
Advertising, Budget & Strategy
- 147% of small business owners spend less than $10,000 on digital marketing annually.
- 2Digital advertising spending worldwide is projected to reach $645 billion by 2024.
- 3For every $1 spent on Google Ads, businesses earn an average revenue of $2.
- 445% of small businesses use paid advertising.
- 563% of businesses have increased their digital marketing budgets in just the last year.
- 6The average cost per click (CPC) in Google Ads across all industries is $2.69 for search network.
- 7Digital ads can increase brand awareness by 80%.
- 840% of small business owners say that their biggest challenge with digital marketing is finding the time to do it.
- 9Less than 20% of marketers say they use AI in their marketing strategy.
- 1050% of small businesses have no defined digital marketing strategy.
- 11Retargeting ads are 76% more likely to get clicks than regular display ads.
- 1265% of small to mid-sized businesses have a PPC campaign.
- 13Visitors who are retargeted with display ads are 70% more likely to convert on your website.
- 1432% of small businesses outsource their digital marketing.
- 15Mobile advertising spending is expected to surpass $339 billion by 2023.
- 1696% of marketers have spent money on Google Ads.
- 17Nearly half of all small business owners handle marketing efforts on their own.
- 18The average small business allocates 7% to 8% of total revenue to marketing.
- 19Cost Per Lead tends to be lower for inbound marketing ($135) compared to outbound marketing ($346).
- 2076% of companies agree that interactive content provides a competitive tactic for differentiation.
Interpretation
Put simply, while global digital ad budgets are exploding and Google Ads often returns roughly two dollars for every dollar spent, nearly half of small businesses spend under $10,000 a year and many lack a defined strategy or the time to execute one, which leaves a huge opportunity for smarter investments in retargeting, inbound and interactive campaigns to lower cost per lead, boost clicks and conversions, and dramatically increase brand awareness.
Consumer Behavior & Website Experience
- 175% of users admit to making judgments about a company’s credibility based on their website’s design.
- 288% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience.
- 3It takes about 0.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website.
- 457% of internet users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed website on mobile.
- 5Mobile devices generate 58.99% of global website traffic.
- 647% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less.
- 7A 1-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.
- 898% of shoppers say authentic reviews are the most important factor influencing their purchase decisions.
- 993% of consumers used the internet to find a local business in the last year.
- 1064% of consumers will click a Google ad when they are looking to buy an item online.
- 1138% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.
- 1288% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
- 13Given 15 minutes to consume content, two-thirds of people would rather read something beautifully designed than something plain.
- 1453.3% of all web traffic comes from mobile phones.
- 1560% of consumers have higher expectations for customer service now than they did just one year ago.
- 16A personalized web experience can lead to a 20% increase in sales.
- 1770% of small business websites lack a Call to Action (CTA) on their homepage.
- 1844% of website visitors will leave a company's website if there's no contact information or phone number.
- 1986% of visitors want to see information about that company’s products/services on the homepage.
- 20Only 64% of small businesses have a website.
Interpretation
Think of your website as your storefront on a crowded street: if it looks bad, loads slowly, hides contact details, lacks a clear call to action or mobile-friendly design, and ignores authentic reviews and personalization, most people will walk past, never recommend you and buy elsewhere because visitors form an opinion in 0.05 seconds, more than half of traffic comes from mobile, a one second delay can cut conversions by 7 percent, and shoppers overwhelmingly trust reviews and expect fast, attractive, informative and personalized experiences.
Email & Mobile Marketing
- 1Email marketing has an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent.
- 281% of SMBs rely on email as their primary driver for customer acquisition.
- 3Welcome emails have an incredibly high open rate of 82%.
- 4Segmented email campaigns produce 30% more opens and 50% more click-throughs than unsegmented campaigns.
- 5SMS marketing open rates are estimated to be as high as 98%.
- 649% of consumers said that they would like to receive promotional emails from their favorite brands on a weekly basis.
- 7Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened.
- 875% of consumers say they check their email on their smartphones.
- 9Mobile offers are redeemed 10 times more frequently than print offers.
- 10Adding videos to your email can increase click rates by 300%.
- 1142.3% of people will delete an email if it is not optimized for mobile.
- 12Tuesday is often cited as the best day to send emails for high open rates.
- 1369% of email recipients report email as spam based solely on the subject line.
- 1470% of consumers want to receive coupons and discounts via email.
- 15Cart abandonment emails have a 45% open rate.
- 1691% of all US consumers still use email daily.
- 17Interactive email content increases the click-to-open rate by 73%.
- 1880% of retail professionals indicate that email marketing is their greatest driver of customer retention.
- 19SMS marketing coupons are redeemed 8 times more than those sent via email.
- 2035% of marketers send their customers 3-5 emails per week.
Interpretation
These statistics make clear that email is the marketing equivalent of compound interest for small businesses, delivering massive ROI and driving acquisition and retention when messages are personalized, segmented and optimized for mobile, amplified by video, interactive elements and SMS for instant redemptions, but success still hinges on compelling subject lines, smart timing and a respectful weekly cadence because customers will delete or mark as spam anything irrelevant or poorly formatted.
SEO & Content Marketing
- 168% of online experiences begin with a search engine.
- 253% of all trackable website traffic comes from organic search.
- 3Small businesses with blogs get 126% more lead growth than those without.
- 4Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less.
- 575% of people never scroll past the first page of search engines.
- 6Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%.
- 772% of online marketers describe content creation as their most effective SEO tactic.
- 860% of marketers create at least one piece of content each day.
- 9Long-form content (3000+ words) gets 77% more backlinks than short articles.
- 1046% of all Google searches are looking for local information.
- 1192% of marketers say that video is an integral part of their marketing strategy.
- 12Websites with a video landing page are 53 times more likely to show up on page 1 of Google.
- 1370% of people would rather get information about a company or learn something from an article or blog post than from a traditional advertisement.
- 1461% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from a company that delivers custom content.
- 15Titles with 6 to 13 words tend to attract the highest and most consistent amount of traffic.
- 1628% of searches for something nearby result in a purchase.
- 17Top-ranking results on Google's first page have an average click-through rate of 31.7%.
- 1850% of search queries consist of four words or more.
- 1961% of B2B marketers meet with their content team daily or weekly.
- 20Voice search accounts for 20% of all queries on mobile devices.
Interpretation
Think of your website as a shop window and content as the friendly salesperson: since 68% of online journeys start with search, 53% of trackable traffic is organic, blogs boost lead growth 126%, content marketing delivers three times the leads at 62% less cost, 75% of users never go past page one, updated and long-form posts plus video and local/voice optimization massively increase visibility and backlinks, and audiences prefer useful, custom content—so if you're not publishing frequent, search-optimized, long-form and video-rich material with smart titles, you're essentially leaving most buyers on the sidewalk.
Social Media Marketing
- 193% of small business owners use Facebook to market their business.
- 273% of marketers believe that their efforts through social media marketing have been somewhat effective or very effective for their business.
- 3LinkedIn makes up more than 50% of all social traffic to B2B websites and blogs.
- 4Visual content is more than 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content.
- 571% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend the brand to their friends and family.
- 6Short-form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy.
- 790% of Instagram users follow a business.
- 8Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than tweets without images.
- 954% of social browsers use social media to research products.
- 10User-generated content usually generates 6.9 times higher engagement than brand-generated content on Facebook.
- 1161% of organizations use social listening to monitor their social media channels.
- 12Stories on Instagram are used by 500 million users every day.
- 13Marketers who use video in their ad campaigns get 66% more qualified leads per year.
- 1491% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content.
- 1579% of people say that user-generated content on social media highly impacts their purchasing decisions.
- 16Pinterest drives 33% more referral traffic to shopping sites than Facebook.
- 1749% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations on social media.
- 18Social media advertising revenues are projected to reach $207 billion in 2024.
- 19Sunday is considered the worst day to post on Instagram for engagement.
- 20Facebook Live videos produce 6 times as many interactions as traditional videos.
Interpretation
If you think social media is optional, consider that 93% of small businesses use Facebook, 90% of Instagram users follow a business, and 91% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn, which drives over half of B2B site traffic, while visual content is more than 40 times likelier to be shared, user generated content yields about 6.9 times the engagement of brand posts and influences 79% of buyers, short form video delivers the highest ROI and video ads produce 66% more qualified leads, tweets with images get 150% more retweets and Facebook Live drives six times the interactions of traditional video, 54% of people use social to research products and 71% will recommend a brand after a positive social experience, 61% of organizations monitor channels with social listening, 49% rely on influencer recommendations, Pinterest sends 33% more shopping referral traffic than Facebook, social ad revenue is projected to hit $207 billion in 2024, and Sunday remains the worst day to post on Instagram, so ignoring any of these tactics is like leaving reach, traffic, and sales sitting in your customers' feeds.
