BIA/Kelsey has shared with MMW the latest data from its Local Commerce Monitor, an ongoing study of the advertising behaviors of small to medium-sized businesses.
Based on the most recent information available, there is robust social media usage taking place today among higher-spending SMBs.
According to the study, SMBs that spend more than $25,000 annually on advertising and promotion plan to allocate 17.4 percent of their marketing budgets to social media in the next 12 months, that’s up from 15.6 percent in 2013 and 10.5 percent in 2012—a dramatic increase in two years.
The report summary indicates that these “Plus Spenders,” on average, spend nearly $79,000* annually on advertising and promotion.
“Plus Spenders represent a highly desirable segment of the SMB market for local media and marketing companies,” says Steve Marshall, director of research at BIA/Kelsey. “The data indicate they are diving into social media, demonstrating familiarity and courage in leveraging the channel to connect with their audiences. It’s particularly remarkable that usage of social media by Plus Spenders is consistently high across all SMB age cohorts—the oldest SMBs are using nearly as much social media as the newer SMBs. This usage pattern—consistent behavior across SMB age cohorts—is highly unusual.”