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Your business will struggle to thrive if no one knows it exists. Marketing can help you to get your business’ name out there, spread the value of your product or service and secure a loyal customer base.
Having small business marketing statistics to hand could help you secure buy-in from key stakeholders, as they’ll understand the value small business marketing has in your business’ growth.
The more relevant statistics you know, the more evidence you have to support your impressive ideas. Another added bonus? You’ll also have the expertise to help you stay competitive by knowing what others in your industry are doing.
So, what does marketing do for a business? We’ll explore the benefits of small business marketing below, followed by an impressive range of small business marketing statistics so you can understand the value of marketing as an entrepreneur.
What is small business marketing?
Small business marketing refers to the strategies and processes you use to promote your products and services. It’s all about making potential customers aware of your business to generate sales and build brand awareness.
Why is marketing important for my business?
You can think of marketing as your business’ spokesperson - there to get your business’ name out there and attract the attention of potential customers. When done well, marketing can serve as an important tool to increase brand awareness and get you on your target market’s radar. In today’s world, competition is certainly fierce, meaning you’ll need to go the extra mile to differentiate yourself from your competitors.
But marketing isn’t just about attracting new customers, it’s about keeping a hold of your existing ones too by nurturing your customer relationships. Customer relationship marketing, such as loyalty programmes and personalised emails, can help make your customers feel valued and encourage them to stick around for the long haul. If you’re looking to grow your business and sustain it over time, marketing is crucial.
50 marketing statistics for small businesses
Ready to uncover the value of marketing as a small business? Here are an impressive 50 stats that are sure to help you understand how effective marketing is for driving leads and revenue. We’ve even categorised the statistics based on the marketing channel so you can understand the value of investing in these as a business.
49% of small business owners aren’t sure if their marketing efforts are effective, and 14% know that they’re not. [Lead Pages]
42% of small business owners admit they don't use a robust website and social media channels together to market their business. [The Drum]
6 out of 10 very small businesses have yet to establish an online presence and get a website. [Go Daddy]
Digital marketing spend for-profit companies is expected to increase by 28.29% for the following 12 months, compared to 2021. [Statista]
Small business marketing budget statistics
How companies in the UK allocate their marketing spend has changed over the years, particularly due to advancements in technology and changes in customer behaviour. This change in focus is evidenced below, with the least amount of spend being allocated to traditional advertising - non-digital marketing methods you may be familiar with, such as television and print advertising.
While traditional advertising hasn’t completely disappeared, it’s certainly taken a backseat over time due to the increasing popularity of digital marketing. As a result, small businesses may favour investing in digital due to the ability to measure its success through data.
Brand building is another popular form of marketing, with 7.8% of spend invested into building brand awareness. Brand building comes in second after digital, understandable given that these types of marketing often works alongside each other to help establish an online presence and boost brand visibility.
5. Google is responsible for 96% of all smartphone search traffic. [Jody Nimetz Co]
6. People are 15 times more likely to use the phrase ‘near me’ in search compared to 2013. [Search Engine Land]
7. 26% of B2C marketers said that social media was their primary marketing channel,
followed by website (21%) and email (13%). [Statista]
Email marketing statistics
These email marketing statistics offer valuable insight on how to utilise it to engage with customers.
8. 54% of marketers use email marketing to distribute and promote their content. [Semrush]
9. 72% of marketers use email to engage with their customers across the customer journey. [Validity]
10. Weekdays outperform weekends for sending marketing emails. [Campaign Monitor]
11. 51% of marketers believe their consumers open and read at least half of the emails they receive. But most consumers (59%) reported that they open and read less than half. [Validity]
Content marketing statistics
Looking to get your business’ name out there? Content marketing can help you to build brand awareness and retain customers.
12. 97% of marketers include content marketing in their marketing strategies. [Semrush]
13. 72% of marketers say their company uses reporting tools for data analysis. [Hubspot]
14. 70% of marketers use account-based marketing strategies to target their content. [Hubspot]
15. 65% of marketers say case studies and success stories are the biggest value drivers for their business. [Influitive]
16. The top two objectives for today’s B2B digital marketers are increasing customer engagement and improving customer experience. [WPromote]
17. LinkedIn is the organic social media platform that B2B content marketers use the most and the one they said produces the best results. [Content Marketing Institute]
18. 50% of B2B marketers outsource content marketing activities. [Content Marketing Institute]
Social media statistics
These social media marketing statistics cover the most popular social media platforms, so you know which channels to target to help build a community with customers.
19. As of 2023 there are an estimated 4.89 billion total social media users worldwide. [Statista]
20. The amount of time internet users spend on social media is now higher than ever — 151 minutes per day.
21. TikTok is the fastest-growing platform with a 100% user growth rate between 2020 and 2022. [Target Internet]
22. The number of social media users worldwide grew by only 3% YoY from January 2022 to January 2023 (+137 million users.) [Smart Insights]
23. It’s projected that $130.5 billion of total social media ad spending will be generated through mobile by 2027. [Statista]
24. Social media recently overtook paid search as an advertising channel, growing 25% year-on-year and exceeding $137 billion. [Zenith Media]
25. Retargeting ads are the most-used among marketers, with 77% of B2B and B2C marketers alike saying they use retargeting as part of their Facebook and Instagram advertising strategies. [Sharp Spring].
26. Total spend on social media advertising is projected to reach $268 billion in 2023. [Statista]
27. Facebook is the most-used platform by marketers worldwide (90%), with Instagram sitting in second place (79%). [Statista]
28. As of Q4 2022, Facebook is the largest online social network in the world with roughly 2.96 billion monthly active users. [Statista
29. 56.6% of Facebook users are male and 43.4% are female (based on available gender data.) [Statista]
30. 61.2% of total Instagram users are between the ages 18-34. [Statista]
31. Reels take up 30% of the time that users spend on Instagram. [Forrester]
32. Instagram’s engagement rates are four times higher than Facebook (0.60% to 0.15%). [Social Insider]
33. LinkedIn has over 900 million members across 200 countries.
34. There are over 63 million company profiles on LinkedIn.
TikTok
35. TikTok has over 1 billion active users worldwide. [TikTok]
36. TikTok is the most frequently used app worldwide, with users spending an average of 23.5 hours per month on the platform. [Datareportal]
37. 54.1% of TikTok’s users identify as women (based on available gender data.) [Datareportal]
38. 38.9% of TikTok users are 18-24 years old and account for the largest share of TikTok’s advertising audience.
39. 78.9% of TikTok users are looking for fun or entertaining content on the platform. [Datareportal]
YouTube
40. YouTube has over 2.5 billion users worldwide, as of January 2023. However, the platform’s active users have decreased by 48 million over the past year. [Datareportal]
41. YouTube Shorts get 30 billion views daily from users around the globe. [Statista]
42. 12% of YouTube users are male, aged between 25-34. 9% of users are females of the same age range (based on available gender data.) [Statista]
43. People spend an average of 19 minutes per day watching videos on YouTube. [Statista]
44. Almost 90% of all visits to YouTube come from a mobile device. [Statista]
Video marketing statistics
Looking to implement video marketing into your business growth strategy? These video marketing statistics cover the value it can bring to your new business.
45. 92% of marketers say that video is at the heart of their marketing strategy. [Social Films]
46. 6 out of 10 people prefer watching online videos to television. [Social Films]
47. 72% of customers would rather learn about products and services via video. [Social Films]
48. Video marketing increases qualified leads by 66%. [Social Films]
49. 93% of marketers have gained new customers from video marketing. [Social Films]
50. Social videos are shared 1200% more than text and images combined. [Social Films]
Trending marketing topics
Feeling stuck on what areas of marketing you should invest in? Here are some rising marketing topics that have increased in popularity according to Google Trends data year on year.
Digital marketing came out on top with a 350% increase. Digital not only allows you to creatively express your brand across various channels, it’s also a powerful tool that can help you connect with your target market in a way that’s measurable through data. That way, you can identify which marketing strategies are working well and what can be improved.
Most searched-for type of marketing
If you’re looking to attract customers and boost sales to improve your chances of success, you’ll need to know which types of marketing are most effective and most likely to make you a profit. In today’s competitive landscape, marketing is essential - without it, it’ll be difficult for customers to know about your business.
Below, we’ve gathered some data on the most searched-for types of marketing, based on their monthly search volume. This can give you an idea of what other businesses in your industry could be investing in or at least wanting to know more about, and the decisions you’ll need to make to stay competitive.
Take your business marketing to the next level
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Author bio
Lucy Hancock is an experienced finance writer, having previously worked for Staysure Travel Insurance before working at MoneySuperMarket where she specialised in all areas of personal finance, from credit cards and loans to pensions and retirement planning. Having worked in digital marketing for several years, she’s passionate about the value small business marketing can bring to those looking to grow their businesses. She has written extensively across all areas of business and personal finance, to help business owners like you make informed financial decisions.