The State of Digital Marketing for SMEs: A Statistical Overview

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• SMEs in Numbers – Small Yet Big
• Search Engine Optimisation – Gearing
  Up For SERP Glory
• Video Marketing – The Numbers Tell A Story
• Email Marketing – Mail Your Way To Success
• Content Marketing – What You See Is
  What You Engage With!
• Social Media Marketing – Going Social Makes
  Sense
• In A Nutshell

Introduction

There is a lot of talk around Small to Medium Enterprises (SME) and the numerous opportunities that they bring for modern-day marketers. With the gradual rise in their numbers over the years, the acronym SME carries a lot of importance for digital marketers, the world over. The competition to shine through the noise is fierce, and it is only fair that marketers get a sense of how this industry segment perceives the digital medium.

Through this blog post, we will try and unravel the state of digital marketing in 2020 and how SMEs can further their advantage by using the power of the internet.

For the sake of clarity, we have divided the main functional areas of Digital Marketing into the following sections:

• SEO
• Video Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Social Media Marketing

Before we delve deeper into Digital Marketing stats, it is also important to get an idea about the scale and size of the Small and Medium Enterprises in 2019.

SMEs in Numbers – Small Yet Big

1. The Small and Medium Enterprises account for nearly 65% of employment in the European Union.
2. In Europe, an organisation with less than 250 employees is considered to be an SME, whereas in the US and Canada this number goes up to 500.
   
3. As much as 40% of the National Income of emerging economies is generated through SMEs
4. More than 80% of small businesses feel a website gives them an edge over their competitors
5. While close to 50% of enterprises have plans to create a website to boost their business opportunities.
6. With ad spends rising more than 16%, the internet has become the largest advertising medium for SMEs.
7. Nearly 35% of the total finances of SMEs are earmarked for digital marketing.
8. 47% of small business owners run their marketing efforts without professional help.
   
9. Almost 80% of the searches made on mobile devices result in a sale.
10. Brick and mortar stores receive 56% more visitors after running targeted promotions on mobile devices.

Wow, those numbers are staggering. With the growing number of SMEs who cater to global and local populations, digital marketing gives these small businesses much needed help in terms of setting up a brand persona that resonates with their customers and takes their profits to a new high.

With that, now let’s take a look at different segments of the Digital Marketing world and how they are leveraging their expertise in building the SME growth story.

Search Engine Optimisation – Gearing Up For SERP Glory

By now, most small businesses have realised the power of the web. With so many businesses in competitive niches all over the place, things can get tough to manage. However, SEO is one aspect that helps SMEs stay on top of their game and rise through the clutter.

Let’s check some stats on how SEO is helping small businesses the world over.

1. More than 93% of people begin their online experience through a search engine.
2. 80% of search users focus only on organic results rather than paid ads
3. Organic SEO has the power to create 5 X better leads than paid ads
4. More than 60% of marketers cite improving organic presence through SEO as their priority.Source
5. More than 70% of people who search with the term”Nearby” visit the business within a day.
6. 92% of the web traffic is attributed to the first-page results on search engines.
7. More than 70% marketing professional cite ‘Relevancy’ as the most important SEO factor.
8. Searches done on mobile devices constitute more than 50% of total searches
9. Location-based searches are on the rise, with over 78% leading to an in-store sale.
   
10. More than 40% of people agree that site load duration longer than 3 seconds is a deal breaker.
11. By the year 2020, more than half of all searches will be voice-based.
12. Voice Search will be nearly worth 40 billion dollars by 2022.

These numbers are proof (If you ever needed any) that SEO still rules the hearts and minds of all digital marketers and SMEs. In the years ahead, search giant Google will tweak their algorithm further to provide a better experience to their users. The onus lies on modern marketers and businesses to leverage this customer-centric approach for their profit.

Check out this detailed piece we wrote about “Dominating Local Search” to get started on your SEO journey.

Video Marketing – The Numbers Tell A Story

It’s a known fact; videos have more compelling power to sell a product or service in comparison to an image or good copy. Since the advent of video platforms like Youtube and Vimeo, marketers have successfully utilised the power of video to outsell their competition. But what was the state of video marketing in 2019?

Let’s find out.

1. On average, over 5 billion videos are viewed every day on Youtube.
2. Almost 45% of marketers have Youtube in their scheme of things for this year.
3. More than 40% of people watch over an hour of videos on Facebook and Youtube.Source
4. 300 hours worth of videos are uploaded on Youtube per minute.
5. Almost 65% of people believe watching a video impacted their buying decision.
6. Average viewing session on Youtube has gone up by 40 minutes. That’s a 50% increase.
7. Over 80% of marketers are refining their video content to be mobile-friendly
8. Every second millennial prefers Youtube over television.
9. More than 20% of users will stop watching if a video doesn’t entice them in the first 10 seconds.
10. A video with thumbnail can increase web traffic by 50 %
11. By the year 2021, 82% of all web traffic will be in the form of videos
12. 95% of all internet users access Youtube for their video needs. Source
13. More than 65% of decision-makers in a company visit a website after viewing a related video.
14. More than 82% of businesses experience a positive impact after using video marketing.
15. Videos under 1 minute receive more than 80% engagement.

2020 will be yet another year where videos will dominate the digital marketing space. Such overwhelming popularity is a sign of things to come, when people will rely heavily on videos to gain information, shop or for entertainment.

Marketers who ride this wave will be ones reaping maximum benefits in terms of sales, leads or conversions. If achieving online success is one of your goals, video marketing should be your top priority in 2020.

We recently caught up with some industry experts to know which video platform works best for marketing in 2020. Read more about it in our blog.

Email Marketing – Mail Your Way To Success

Sending targeted emails to potential customers is a go-to method for all marketers to drive sales, subscriptions or awareness. But off late, this method has lost its sheen due to the emergence of other marketing channels like social media.

How was 2019 for Email Marketing? Do marketers still prefer this method to engage with their customers? Let’s find out through these stats.

1. Gmail has over 1.2 billion active users around the world.
2. By the end of 2023, there will be more than 4.4 billion global email users worldwide.
3. Over 78% people unsubscribe because a brand sends repeated emails.
4. More than 60% marketers use age related data to personalise their emails.
5. 50% marketing professionals test different subject lines to optimise email performance.Source
6. More than 90% of customers prefer receiving emails from their favourite brands.
7. 42% marketers do not take advantage of targeted emails.
8. Click through rates have a chance of increasing 65% if the receiver opens the mail again.
9. 86% people prefer emails for business communication.

Email marketing is clearly still a favourite method amongst marketers. Keeping certain basics in mind, like not spamming customers with your emails and offering relevant information at all times will ensure that your email campaigns are a success.

Newsletters and ads sent via emails have a unique advantage over other methods of advertising. Since users opt in (in most cases) to receive this form of promotional material, the chances of them engaging with the content increases. With emails still playing a significant role in modern marketing, it is up to the marketers and business owners as to how they leverage this marketing channel to their advantage.

Content Marketing – What You See Is What You Engage With!

Ask any marketer worth their salt and content marketing would feature on their priority list all the time. With search engines laying emphasis on user experience, relevant content becomes the differentiating factor between successful and not-so-successful online businesses.

With the help of stats, let’s take a look at how 2019 has panned out for content marketing.

1. Recall value of any content increases by 65% if there are visuals involved.
2. Close to 50% of potential customers view multiple pieces of content before making a buying decision.
3. Businesses experienced 3X more leads through content marketing in comparison to paid ads.
4. More than 80% of businesses use their blogs for content marketing.
5. 45% of marketers promoting directly to customers think visuals are the most important type of content.(Source)
6. Marketers with a robust blogging strategy, experience 13 X more positive returns.
7. Content consumption for more than 85% adults happens on multiple devices at the same time.
8. Marketers feel infographics can increase site traffic by 12%.
9. More than 68% of consumers believe a blog adds credibility to a website.
   
   Industry trends still show how vital content marketing is in creating a successful online business. While modern consumers and marketers prefer visual content over the written form, it doesn’t mean that good copywriting will not get the required attention. With the right mix of content styles, marketers can be sure to achieve consistent success.
   
   Looking for some tips to get you started with content marketing? We wrote a helpful blog piece about it some time back. Check it out here.

Social Media Marketing – Going Social Makes Sense

The world has truly gone social. With digital freedom gaining momentum at the speed of light, marketers have realised the vast potential that social media has for brand promotions and marketing. For small businesses, struggling to find their feet in the ultra-competitive world, social media offers a level playing field.

But, how are marketers leveraging this medium to gain maximum returns? These stats will present a clearer picture.

1. There are over 3.2 billion people active on Social Media.
2. Out of these, 2.2 billion users are on Facebook.
3. More than 90% of companies use social media to build brand awareness.(Source)
4. Youtube, with over 1.9 billion users is the most used social video platform.
5. Over 74% people use Facebook for business purposes.
6. Instagram’s user base is increasing at the rate of 5% per quarter
7. An average Instagram user spends 53 minutes on the app each day.
8. Twitter sees an average of 500 million tweets a day
9. Close to 60% users think customer service on social media resolves issues quicker.
10. 97% marketers confirm using social media to reach their audience.
11. 80% of time spent on social media happens through mobile devices.

Going by these numbers, the juggernaut that is Social Media doesn’t seem to slow down in 2020. While this medium offers endless opportunities for brands and marketers, it also comes with its fair share of issues, organic reach and measuring an impactful ROI to name a few. Another challenge that marketers face is the dilemma of choosing one platform over the other.

Taming the social media beast might seem like a daunting task, but it is definitely achievable with a well laid out plan and a focussed approach.

In A Nutshell

Numbers are the most definitive way to get insights on trends. With in-depth analysis of figures and percentages, marketers can quickly gauge the moods of their existing and potential customers alike. This detailed statistical overview of the year so far was our way to help marketers get a sense of things to come. Armed with these stats, marketing professionals can formulate successful strategies and get set on the path to marketing glory.

Use the comments sections to tell us how it helped you on your marketing journey.