We surveyed two groups of SMBs in Wave 16: Core and Plus Spenders, using two samples of 300 each. The Core sample consists of SMBs that spend an average of about $3,000 annually on media for advertising and promotion*. The Plus Spenders sample spent an average of about $75,000 on advertising and promotion*.
This deck presents the highlights for the Plus Spenders sample. It’s a companion deck to "LCM Wave 16 Highlights: Core SMBs", that we published on 10/10/12 (which of course, is still available in the client portal).
Many of the Wave 16 findings for Plus Spenders are consistent with the findings for the Core group of SMBs:
The migration from traditional to digital/online media continues
The number of different media used increased (for Plus Spenders, nearly 10 different media are now used, on average)
Social media, particularly Facebook, is evolving into an important marketing/advertising platform
Mobile is growing strongly
SMBs are engaging more deeply with their customers in a variety of ways (e.g. monitoring customer comments online; running customer loyalty programs)
In terms of online presence, it appears that a two-tier structure has emerged:
The three online properties in Tier One are currently used (or are intended to be added) by the great majority of respondents.
The many online properties in Tier Two have less penetration, but still have meaningful traction and are growing rapidly. Overall, the online presence findings suggest the rapid evolution of a robust, multi-property online presence for higher-spending SMBs.
*Outliers removed in calculations of these averages.
LCM Wave 16 Highlights: SMB Plus Spenders
