How will your peer small / medium business (SMB) marketers reach their goals in 2015? What is their business outlook, and what tactics will they use to acquire and engage with SMBs? You’ll learn: • Marketers’ growth expectations for 2015 • How they are allocating marketing budget among key marketing tactics • Which tactics marketers will emphasize – and scale back – in 2015 • Which social media marketers will use the most to engage SMBs • Which content marketing formats they will invest in • Their perception of the single most effective tactic in marketing to SMBs • The role of different content elements across the sales cycle

1. Marketing to SMBs in 2015:
Marketer’s Perspective
February 26, 2015 Bredin, Inc.
www.bredin.com
617-868-6369

2. Insight  Lead Gen  Content  Sales Support
Increasing SMB Acquisition, Engagement and Retention
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3. Research Objective
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Give SMB marketers a current perspective on the
marketing tactics their peers will utilize in 2015
• What is their business outlook?
• What tactics will they use to acquire and engage with SMBs?
• Which content marketing tactics will see the biggest growth?
• Which content formats are most effective across the sales
cycle?
• Which social media will they use in 2015?

4. Methodology
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Methodology
How
• 10-minute online survey
Who
• 57 U.S. and Canadian Enterprise Marketers to SMBs
• 21 software companies
• 11 banks
• 4 telcos
• 3 insurance companies
• 3 Internet access / website hosting companies
• 2 credit card issuers
• 1 each: energy company, legal services firm, marketing services provider, office
supply company, payroll service provider, hardware company, security firm, travel
services provider
When
• February 5-18, 2015
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5. Detailed Results

6. SMB marketers are very positive about 2015
Revenue Outlook
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78%
16%
4%
0% 2%
Up 10% or more
Up by less than 10%
Same as 2014
Down by less than 10%
Down 10% or more
How do you expect your total 2015 revenues from the SMB segment to compare to 2014?

7. What percent of your total SMB marketing budget will you spend on each of these tactics
in 2015?
On average, marketers will allocate the most budget for sales support
Marketing Budget
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0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18%
Telemarketing
Mobile marketing
Site development
Broadcast media (e.g., TV, radio, print, outdoor)
Social media
PR
Trade shows and events
Banner / display advertising
Direct mail
Search
Content marketing (e.g., forums, resource centers, videos, white papers,
webinars, ebooks, etc.)
Email marketing
Sales / channel support (total – collateral, presentations, etc.)

8. What would you say is the single most effective tactic to market to SMBs?
Content marketing, paid search and email are among the tactics considered most effective for SMB marketing
Most Effective Marketing Tactic
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9. On a scale of 1 (decrease significantly) to 5 (increase significantly), how do you expect your
SMB marketing budget to change for 2015 versus 2014 for each of these tactics?
Content marketing is set for the fastest growth in 2015
Marketing Tactic Growth
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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Other
PR
Direct mail
Telemarketing
Broadcast media (e.g., TV, radio, print, outdoor)
Trade shows and events
Mobile marketing
Sales / channel support (total – collateral, presentations, etc.)
Banner / display advertising
Site development
Email marketing
Search
Social media
Content marketing (e.g., forums, resource centers, videos, white papers,
webinars, ebooks, etc.)

10. On the same scale, how do you expect your marketing budget to change for 2015 versus 2014
for each of these content marketing tactics?
Case studies are the top content marketing tactic, followed by email newsletters
Content Marketing Tactics
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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Audio podcast
Virtual event
White paper / ebook
Interactive tools, such as quizzes or calculators
Webinar / webcast
Video on YouTube
Infographics
Emails with offers
Video on your site
Blog
Online resource center / branded community / forum
Email newsletters
Case studies / customer success stories

11. For each of these content formats, please select where it is most effective in the sale cycle.
Blogs are the top format for driving site traffic and emails with offers are effective for lead capture
Content Across the Sales Cycle
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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Emails with offers
Webinar / webcast
Online resource center
Interactive tools, such as quizzes or calculators
Virtual event
White paper / analyst report
Email newsletters
Case studies / customer success stories
Infographics
Video on your site
Video on YouTube
Audio podcast
Blog
Driving site traffic / supporting search /
brand perception
Lead capture
Enable your audience to conduct
product or service research
Support prospect nurture / customer
retention and upsell

12. On a scale of 1 (decrease significantly) to 5 (increase significantly), how do you expect your
marketing budget to change for 2015 versus 2014 for each of these social media
platforms?
LinkedIn is set for the fastest growth in 2015
Social Media Growth
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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
Other social media platform(s)
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

13. Your To-Do’s
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Consider testing LinkedIn
Work with the SMB marketing experts at Bredin
Support your sales team and consider events and referrals
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Stu Richards, CEO
stu@bredin.com
Twitter: @SBDF
Test different tactics to determine what works best for your audience
Ensure your content is unique, relevant and actionable
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