The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected small business operations worldwide, creating many new challenges, trends and rules.
Most small businesses use a combination of email, social media and website to get the word out about their products or services. Some have active e-commerce stores and search engine marketing activities, while others incorporate direct mail or SMS.
Social media marketing: the most popular choice for small businesses
Nearly half of small businesses believe that social media is the most effective channel for driving business results.
Social media marketing is an excellent option for small businesses to build a following and create brand awareness. This is also a cost-effective way to maintain an online image.
It can effectively attract the attention of consumers, but it should not be the first or only priority for small businesses. Combining social media with other marketing channels can create to create a personalized customer experience, nurture them over time and generate repeat customers.
- Small businesses are most likely to use social media (63%), websites (55%) and email marketing (52%) to promote themselves online.
- Twenty-four percent of small businesses believe social media is the most important marketing channel for promoting business development during the pandemic.
- Compared to email marketing, small businesses that started selling online during the pandemic are 3 times more likely to believe that social media is the best marketing strategy for securing sales.
Moreover, it turns out that consumers are much more likely to buy after receiving an email or text message from a brand than they are to see them via social media.
Email marketing: A very effective way to sell
One of the top mistakes small businesses make when it comes to using email marketing is that they don’t align with their customers’ interests. 84% of small businesses are pretty sure they know what their customers want, but they don’t. Most small businesses believe they know what their customers want.
Most small businesses believe that those emails that check their customers’ well-being are the most effective, but they are not correct. Emails with coupons and discounts are the most effective.
- Consumers stated that emails with coupons are 83% more likely to be opened than email newsletters
- 67% more likely to be opened than shopping cart emails.
- 64% more likely to be opened than wellness check emails.
For small businesses, planning a marketing campaign around incorrect assumptions can be costly, especially when your goal is to generate sales. Understand what your target audience is looking for and then do everything you can to deliver this experience.
- 34% of consumers say email is the most useful communication method small businesses receive when they are considering a purchase.
- 30% of people will look for SMS messages to help them make a purchase decision.
Automations
Consumer behavior is changing too fast and small businesses can’t keep up. Artificial intelligence and automation are the secret weapons they need to better understand their customers and save marketing time.
Small businesses are beginning to realize that they can optimize their email strategy using cutting-edge technologies such as automation and artificial intelligence.
While they know these technologies can save time, many small businesses still spend hours manually managing email activities.