Facebook is not only the most used social platform by SMBs, but also the most highly touted channel for ROI, according to a survey [download page] from Taradel. Furthermore, with most respondents having generally positive feelings about social media’s performance for their business, a healthy majority are planning to invest in Facebook ads.
According to the survey of 218 business professionals and advertisers, the report finds that slightly more than two-thirds (68.5%) plan to advertise on Facebook over the coming year. This brings to mind previous research in which small businesses had remained loyal to Facebook advertising despite the platform’s privacy-related issues at the time.
Email is another workhorse for SMBs, per Taradel’s research, with almost two-thirds (66.2%) planning to use the channel over the coming year. The only other advertising tactic that a majority of respondents plan to use is direct mail (60.3%). In fact, many plan to either increase or maintain their direct mail efforts over the next year.
Perhaps owing to their widespread use, these three channels are deemed by respondents to deliver the highest ROI for their businesses. Some 29% share pointed to Facebook as their highest ROI driver, followed by direct mail (23.4%) and email (19.2%).
In other results from the survey:
- Budgets and lead generation are the biggest challenges facing SMBs.
- Increasing sales is by far the leading marketing goal for SMBs.
- Referrals (25.7% share) are the most valuable type of lead for SMBs, followed closely by in-person consultations (22.5%) and phone calls (22%).
- Roughly three-quarters use at least 2 marketing channels.
- Audience targeting is considered the biggest “pain point” in marketing strategy execution.
For more, download the report here.
