21 Jan Ready, Set, Grow: Is Your Marketing Ready for 2017?

From world politics to business to pop culture, 2016 was an undeniably momentous year.  But when you reflect on your small business, was it less memorable?

Did you generate the revenue you need to grow?  Did your marketing—the fuel that propels your revenue engine—work?

With 2016 in the rear-view mirror and 2017 already gaining momentum, now is the time to determine what the New Year will mean for your business.  How will you leverage the power of the marketing tools, trends and technology of 2017 to reach your audience and drive the growth you want?

We’ve culled data from the thousands of marketing campaigns we’ve executed for our customers and studied the 2017 expert predictions and trend reports for small business marketing.  Over the next weeks, we’ll share what we’ve learned to help you effectively apply it to fuel your business success.

Overall, the data and analysis consistently indicate that both technology and marketing expertise will be vital components of growth for small- to medium-size businesses (SMBs) in 2017.  Success is going to take more than email blasting.  Today, effective marketing means using multiple channels to communicate relevant messages and promotions, and it may require investing in outside services to manage and execute it well.

In its 2017 Top Ten SMB Technology Trends report, Boston-based consultant and research analyst SMB Group named the trends it believes hold the most promise for SMBs in 2017.

According to SMB Group, 2017 has the potential to bring unprecedented changes to the technology landscape for SMBs. In most years, according to the group’s research, the top tech trends often develop in an evolutionary way, but this year we also will see more dramatic shifts SMBs need to keep on their radar.

Among the top trends on the list is Focused, Tailored CRM Solutions Take Hold within SMBs. Here’s what they wrote:

“Focused, Tailored CRM Solutions Take Hold within SMBs. Growing revenues and attracting new customers are SMBs’ top two business priorities, but many companies lack the time, money or appetite to invest in software that either has too much functionality that they don’t need or does not have enough of what they do need. Consequently, many SMBs still cobble together spreadsheets, contact managers, email and other disconnected apps to manage customer activities. But the CRM app landscape is changing, reflecting some of the diversity that characterizes the SMB market.  For instance: eRelevance delivers turnkey “do it for me” marketing automation services to medical and aesthetics practices and spas to help them drive more repeat business. The company intends to enter other micro-verticals soon.”

While we’re honored to be included on SMB Group’s list, regardless of the advice you follow and how you ultimately decide to execute your 2017 marketing, the longer you wait to get started, the longer you’ll wait for results.

For the complete SMB Group report, click here.