Email is the best way to drive content for small businesses — 77% see it as effective, according to Email-Driven Content Marketing, a study by SharpSpring, conducted by Ascend2. SharpSpring
is the provider of a content delivery platform.
In contrast, 53% say the same about social media, and 52% say this about websites/blogs. Only 22% rate SEO/organic search as effective in
promulgating content, and 21% apiece feel that way about display ads and PPC/paid search and 20% about content syndication.
What’s more, most small businesses are thinking about content
in strategic terms.
Of the companies surveyed, 36% have an email-based content strategy and 32% are working on one. Another 25% are talking about it, and 8% couldn’t be
bothered.
Those that have these strategies are doing pretty well: 50% rate themselves as very successful, 45% as somewhat so. Only 6% say they are bombing out.
What’s more,
87% say their effectiveness is improving and 27% say it is improving significantly, while only 13% feel it’s decreasing and 3% say it is declining significantly.
As for how they achieve
these results, the survey found that 62% use a mix of outside and in-house resources, 24% outsource it to a specialist, and 14% keep it in-house.
Why would SMBS bother sending content? Their
priorities are:
- Increasing conversion rates — 54%
- Improving quality of leads — 53%
- Increasing leads/subscribers —49%
- Increasing Engagement time — 38%
- Improving brand preference — 33%
But none of it is easy. SMBs are being held back by these challenges:
- Improving quality of leads — 47%
- Increasing conversion rates — 44%
- Increasing leads/subscribers — 41%
- Increasing engagement time —
36%
- Improving brand preference — 32%
- Integrating across channels — 38%
- Reducing cycle time — 27%
Of course, email has
to deliver or serve as a conduit for many types of content formats:
- Webinars/events — 43%
- Videos/motion graphics — 41%
- Interactive content —
40%
- Newsletters/blog posts — 40%
- Case studies/articles — 38%
- Research/eBooks — 32%
- Infographics — 28%
SharpSpring and Ascend2 surveyed 145 marketing influencers at companies with 500 or fewer employees.