Small businesses find the highest value in social media and websites as marketing channels, while lacking confidence and often misunderstanding SEO's role in helping business success, according to a survey conducted by portfolio website Visual Objects. Respondents ranked social media and company websites as the most successful business channels in 2019, but also indicated that websites are the channel with the most room for improvement in 2020.
Visual Object's survey of 500 small-business owners attempted to gauge what marketing channels were and were not successful in 2019 and gain insight on which channels will receive the most attention and investment in 2020. The website defined small businesses as having limited revenue and between 1 and 500 employees.
Social Media
More than a third of businesses reported social media was their most successful channel in achieving their business goals in 2019, according to Visual Object. Additionally, 70% of small businesses plan to increase social media investment in 2020, making it the most popular marketing channel by 10%.
Visual Object cautioned that while social media is a useful tool to help grow brand awareness and build relationships with customers, it may not be the strongest tool for sales conversions. To this end, social-media referrals were considered a top lead generation source by only 28% of replacement contractors and by 47% of full-service remodelers in the 2019 Remodeling 550.
Website and SEO
Websites are an essential tool for small businesses as nearly 90% of people rely on the internet to find local businesses. Despite this, 29% of small businesses participating in the Visual Objects survey planned to start using a website for the first time in 2020 and nearly 30% indicated their website is the marketing channel that needs the most work.
While many small businesses are planning to invest and work on their websites in 2020, a small percentage plan to use search engine optimization (SEO) more in 2020. Only 5% of respondents identified SEO as their most successful marketing tactic in 2019, possibly influencing their focus on SEO moving forward. Only one in five small businesses reported plans to increase SEO investment in 2020, the second-lowest channel on the Visual Object survey, behind augmented reality and virtual reality. Nearly two-thirds of replacement contractors and full-service remodelers on the 2019 Remodeling 550 list reported their website and SEO as a top lead generation source.
The focus on SEO is an important consideration for businesses, as three in five consumers will research products and services online prior to making purchases, and ranking high on Google's search results has a high correlation to consumer exposure. The top five search results on Google's first page receive 70% of people's clicks, while page two results account for only 5% of clicks.
Digital Marketing
One-quarter of respondents reported plans to begin using digital marketing in 2020, suggesting many could be relying on non-digital marketing methods. Digital marketing offers advantages in the form of increased brand awareness, connection with customers, and improved brand reputation. Visual Objects reported companies using digital marketing have more than two times better revenue growth expectancy than business who do not.
While digital marketing tactics, including website, SEO, and social media, are popular among remodelers, repeat customers and word-of-mouth referrals still ranked as the top lead generation source for the majority of replacement contractor and full-service remodeler firms on the 2019 Remodeling 550 list.
