One thing is clear as Small Business Week gets underway on Sunday: Running an SMB has become a young person’s game. And those youthful folks are not as fond of email as their elders
were.
Of the SMBs polled in a new study by ActiveCampaign, 63% use email marketing or social media. But the difference is in favor of social: 39% versus 24% for email.
What’s more, social is the channel that will be most used by 38% of SMBs over the next 12 months. Only 18% say that about email, down from 24%.
And
only 6% of GenZ-ers plan to use email more frequently this year: They prefer social and paid search/SEO.
Facebook is favored by 51% of those ages 45+ and by 54% of rural businesses. But
Gen Z prefers TikTok, and millennial and Black owners favor Instagram.
Only 3% overall plan to use Clubhouse much more frequently in the next 12 months.
Meanwhile, SMBs are
feeling bullish: Asked to select any words that apply describe their feelings, 56% of chose hopeful, while 39% went for optimistic, 35% positive and 29% excited.
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That may be because 58% of all
owners saw positive growth over the last 12 months. And 58% of those were under the age of 44.
In general growth was seen by:
- 74% of black-owned
businesses
- 73% of Gen-Z businesses
- 71% of millennial businesses
- 60% of women-owned businesses
- 58% of veteran-owned businesses
- 57% of rural-owned businesses
- 53% of parents who own businesses
- 52% of
Native American-owned businesses
- 48% of LGBTQ
Of course, not everyone did well: Out of 500 owners surveyed, 133 saw negative growth rates over the past 12
months. And 69% of those were run by owners aged 45 and older.
Their problem? That 25% did not change their business model during the pandemic. They failed to do any of the following:
- Close their brick and mortar permanently or temporarily
- Run or host online events
- Offer a subscription service
- Target a different audience,
- Creating or sell goods pandemic-related goods
- Sell in an online
marketplac
- update their website.
No wonder, they were the most frustrated group during the pandemic —
39% felt that way, although 57% are hopeful for the next 12 months.
In contrast, 70% of B2C companies and 67% of B2B companies changed their business model — and they saw
growth.