• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, June 5, 2015

According to a study by Thrive Analytics, 40% of US SMBs cited not having enough time as a challenge to digital marketing, 37% pointed to a lack of knowledge, and 33% said their budgets simply weren’t big enough.

Due to spending constraints, the demand for vendors to prove their value is more important than ever, says the report. According to polling by G/O Digital and Entrepreneur, 86% of US SMBs had narrowed their preferred list of digital marketing vendors to just four.

To select a digital marketing vendor that stands out from the competition, price was the most important factor when selecting a digital marketing vendor, cited by nearly one-third of respondents. But SMBs weren’t going to buy unless vendors showed that they understood their organizational needs and goals; a cookie-cutter strategy doesn’t work.

When asked how their content consumption habits had changed over the past year, nearly two-thirds of SMBs said they were finding and utilizing more on the web. They had also focused in on trusted and independent sources, with no time to waste on so-so info, says the report.

The study found that on vendor websites in particular, SMBs looked for depth of content, downloadable product information and premium content such as white papers, among other things. And, they also wanted more than content, with price listings and the option to get a quote are important too.

The report concludes that, with content now king, digital marketing vendors must prove their value through understanding SMBs’ organizational goals and establish themselves as leaders by serving up the content targets want to consume.

For additional information, please visit eMarketer here.