Trends in small Buisess Marketing. Report covers marketing tactics looking forward in 2012 and beyond.

1. What’s Working in Small Business Marketing – 2012
By Bob Hanson
President, Quantum Leap Marketing, Inc.

2. Summary
What are small businesses doing this year to get more leads and sales from their marketing budget?
How do Webinars fit into this marketing mix in 2012? What are some winning strategies you can
use to get a higher return-on-investment from your online media and general marketing dollars?
Avoid the common Quantum Leap Marketing, Inc. conducted a survey in the first months of 2012 to find answers
to these questions and more. Small business executives and marketers were asked about their
mistakes, get more marketing plans, including how they plan to take advantage of social media, and how they intend
to change the marketing mix for better results. They were also asked for their views on lead-
from your marketing
generation (marketing) Webinars.
budget, and execute This white paper presents a summary of the survey results regarding their marketing plan and
tactics, identifies top trends from this survey, and also discusses the increasingly important role of
a more effective
both social media and online marketing like Webinars in small business marketing in 2012.
marketing plan
right away. About the Survey
The data shared in this report comes from a recently completed online survey of individuals who
identified themselves as being responsible for, or contributing to, their organization’s marketing. To
qualify, their company needed to be actively marketing and have under 1,000 employees.
The survey population generally consisted of smaller businesses; that is, 95% came from
organizations with 500 or fewer employees.
The survey pool represents a wide diversity of industries, although about 70% identified their
companies as offering services such as marketing services, financial services, or professional or legal
services. Just under 60% identified themselves as a business owner or firm partner, with the rest
having a role in marketing.
Trends in Small Business Marketing
Here are the key findings from this recent survey of small business owners and marketers.
Primary Marketing Tactics in 2012
When asked about their planned marketing tactics for 2012, 70% of small businesses indicated
they will be using referrals to get more leads and new clients.
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 2

3. Referrals and email
Primary Ways of Marketing
marketing are the 80%
70%
most popular ways 60%
50%
40%
of attracting new 30%
20%
customers, followed 10%
0%
by social media
rke er
ilia r
ina r
rke te
g
rke ia
em or
sen b
als
il
rke ail
Aff rs o
Sem ars o
etin
Pre We
tes
rs
ting
Ma
ting
ce
Ma Pap
ting
rs
Ma ebsi
Ma l Med
ting
e S ws
Ma Em
err
ina
tne
ark
ple
ect
Liv Sho
line bin
Ref
W
ite
Par
ia
em
Sim
Dir
Wh
We
Soc
de
marketing.
Tel
Tra
On
Interestingly, 51% indicated that they will be using email marketing, 42% will be using social media
marketing, while roughly one-third will be using events of some type like Webinars, live seminars or
trade shows. These statistics are significant when one considers that the average small business will
actively use multiple ways of generating business. Companies are looking to aggressively recruit for
new customers in 2012, and many are increasing social media marketing to do it.
Success Criteria for Marketing Campaigns
When asked about the ways they judged the effectiveness of their overall marketing activities, 54%
cited the Number of Sales or Sales Opportunities Generated.
Where marketers Measuring Market Effectiveness
60%
may have been more 50%
40%
concerned with leads 30%
20%
in the past, they’re
10%
looking at the number 0%
Number of Total Number of Number of Campaign Cost Don’t Ask,
Sales Revenue Leads Won Sales ROI Per Lead Don’t Measure
of sales and sales Opportunities
Generated
Generated Generated Opportunities
opportunities now.
Forty-two percent cited Total Revenue Generated and 39% Number of Leads Generated. Only 5%
reported that they do not measure or track the effectiveness of marketing tactics.
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 3

4. Small business marketers appear to be much more focused on the bottom line in 2012. Where
marketers may have been more concerned with leads in the past, they’re looking more at sales
opportunities and revenue now.
Marketing Tactics Looking Forward in 2012 and Beyond
When asked which marketing tactics were going to be used MORE in 2012, the following tactics
were highlighted:
• Referral Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Partner or Affiliate Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Website/Brochureware
• Webinars
The following tactics will be emphasized less this year by small business marketers:
• Website Marketing
• Direct Mail
• Telemarketing
The general trend appears to be away from more expensive, less effective tactics, and towards less
expensive, more effective ones.
Notable is that smaller organizations are de-emphasizing website marketing tactics like Search
Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click Marketing. This is more indicative of spending increases in
previous years, than an abandoning of these strategies for 2012.
Email and Social Media Marketing Dominate the Technology Spectrum
for SMBs in 2012
When asked which marketing technologies will be used in 2012, 2 in 3 small businesses will use
Email Marketing while just under 60% will use Social Media Marketing.
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 4

5. Online Marketing Technologies
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
e) A k
mm ads,
em nt
der -
rke ia
em er
ren rs or
rke ail
pon uto
ogl Clic
ent
s
ds
ting
(CR ent
e
g
Ma l Med
nag nte
nag tom
ting
erc
Ma Em
cin
M)
eCo eb Le
Res ail A
(Go -Per-
Co ebina
Ma te Co
Ma Cus
ia
Em
Pay
W
nfe
Soc
W
bsi
We
b
We
Web Conferencing and Webinars, Website Content Management, and Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) will also be used by just under 50% of small businesses.
Social Media Marketing Technologies
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
te
e+
er
k
gs
be
n
boo
i
it
Oth
Blo
ked
Tu
ogl
Tw
You
e
Go
Lin
Fac
With Social Media Technologies, LinkedIn is the clear winner for 2012, with over 72% usage. Also
popular is Facebook with 54%, and YouTube, Twitter, and Blogs are used by about 4 in 10 small
organizations.
Both online and social media marketing are clearly strong as smaller companies try to reach buyers
with the media they are consuming, and search for both cheaper and more effective channels of
promotion.
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 5

6. Online and social Online Marketing Spend Continues to Increase
media marketing are Increasing Online 5% 7%
Marketing Budget
clearly growing as 51%
smaller companies
40%
search for both
More than 51% Decrease
cheaper and more 0 to 50% Decrease 39%
Same as last year
effective channels of 0 to 50% Increase
More than 50% Increase
promotion.
Forty percent of small businesses are increasing their online marketing budget, while 39% plan no
change in online budget over 2011.
Summary of General Marketing Trends for Small Businesses
Almost all small business marketers measure the overall effectiveness of their marketing; they have
taken this feedback and, fueled by external pressure to add revenue in 2012, are increasing their
activity and spend in the online and social arenas.
Events continue to be successful for smaller businesses; as these businesses grow their email
marketing lists, social media followers and reach, they are able to better take advantage of
Webinars to help turn email opt-ins and social media reach into leads and sales.
The next section will outline how small business marketers view Webinars in 2012.
Small Business Webinar Trends in 2012
Here are trends in how marketers view Webinars for lead-generation objectives.
Number of Marketing Webinars per Year – 2011
When asked how many marketing Webinars their organization held in the past year, 52% of
marketers said they held no events, while 21% reported that they held 3 or fewer Webinars.
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 6

7. Events continue to
Number of Marketing
Webinars in 2011
be successful for 21%
smaller businesses;
as these businesses 52%
1 to 3 13%
4 to 6
develop their email 7 to 12
13 to 26 22%
marketing lists they 27 or More
5%
None 2%
are able to better
take advantage of Significantly, 7% said that they held online marketing generation events at least every month.
Webinars. Projected Number of Marketing Webinars per Year – 2012
When asked how many marketing Webinars their organization plans to host in 2012, 41% of
marketers said they are planning between 1 and 6 events, and 9% plan at least a Webinar every
month.
Planned Marketing
Webinars for 2012 28%
26%
1 to 3
4 to 6 4%
About three-quarters 7 to 12
5%
13 to 26 13%
of small businesses 27 or More
None
23%
plan to hold
marketing Webinars Significantly, close to one in four said that they had no plans as of the survey period to hold
a Webinar in 2012. Still, compared to numbers from 2011, close to 25% of SMBs are adding
in 2012 Webinars to the marketing mix this year.
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 7

8. Average Registrants at a Typical Marketing Webinar
Eighty-four percent of business marketers reported an average registrant count of 50 or fewer at
their marketing Webinars.
Average Number of
11%
Registrants Per Webinar
5%
36%
16%
1 to 10
11 to 25
26 to 50
51 to 100
More than 101 32%
In the survey, only 11% reported more than 100 registrants at their average marketing Webinar.
In addition, small business marketers estimate that roughly 50% of registrants attend their live
webinar. When calculating the number of leads from each small business marketing Webinar, it
is best to use the registrant number because at registration rich data like email address, phone
number, title and purchasing role are often captured.
The next section will cover many of the reasons why business marketers view Webinars as a key
strategy to leverage social media and email marketing for more leads and sales.
Webinars That Work for Small Business
The Webinar is becoming a more popular communication medium for small business marketers.
This medium can be intimate, educational, convenient for both presenters and attendees, highly
interactive, and provide rich data that helps qualify registrants and attendees as hot leads.
The importance of Webinars is only increased with the continued use of email and online marketing
and the recent adoption of social media marketing for small business. Small business marketers can
both promote their Webinars through these channels to get new followers and opt-ins, and also
use Webinars to nurture their existing contacts into leads and sales.
The Webinar medium can be viewed in either a live format, where viewers can participate in the
excitement of a live event and ask the presenter(s) questions, or through an on-demand recording,
which they can access and view at their convenience.
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 8

9. Here is a summary of some of the important components of small business Webinar success.
Accomplish Your Most Important Small Business Marketing Objectives
Webinars are flexible in that they help small businesses accomplish a variety of marketing
objectives.
Listed below are the diverse marketing objectives for small business Webinars and the reported
reasons these marketers hold their events.
Webinars are flexible Marketing Objectives with Webinars
in that they help 90%
80%
70%
small businesses 60%
50%
accomplish a variety 40%
30%
of marketing 20%
10%
0%
objectives. Educate Your Nurture Existing Generate Position Your Create a Webinar
Prospects or Leads into Sales New Leads Company in the Recording
Customers Marketplace
Note the most popular reason for holding Webinars is to Educate Prospects or Customers. This is
followed by Generating New Leads, Positioning in the Marketplace and Nurturing Existing Leads
into Sales.
Increase the Number of Registrants at Each Event
Webinars enable small businesses to hold marketing events for small groups or for audiences of
thousands, and the cost of a Webinar per attendee ends up being a fraction of the price per person
of an in-person event.
This flexibility and scalability allows a higher percentage of the event budget to go into higher value
activities such as marketing to get more registrants (sales leads). As small businesses build their
social media channels and email marketing lists through 2012 and beyond, they will be able to
create more Webinar leads and attendees for virtually zero incremental costs.
In addition, Webinars offer the opportunity to feature your best speaker in the presentation, or
bring in an outside speaker with a big social media following or email list, which will likely increase
the quantity of registrants at the Webinar and the results from it.
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 9

10. Having Buyers in the “Room” – High Quality Sales Leads and Return on Investment (ROI)
Webinars can be a very effective way to get a quantifiable return on investment (ROI) from your
marketing dollars and overall resource investment.
This comes partly from having buyers in your virtual seminar room. As reported in the survey, just
over 30% of small business marketers reported that Webinars produce the highest quality of leads
of any online marketing tactic. In addition, about the same 30% report that Webinars produce
more value for the company than most other online marketing tactics. Unfortunately, 43% of small
businesses still don’t track or compare the relative effectiveness of individual marketing tactics;
these small companies should track their marketing campaigns in order to see which tactics are
the best performing before deciding how to spend their marketing dollars. Researched marketing
tactics will help small businesses generate higher ROIs even from unchanged marketing budgets.
Additionally, with Webinars small businesses are better able to capture rich-data about their
potential buyers throughout the Webinar lifecycle. At registration, small businesses choose what
information they want to capture from their Webinar registrants. Generally,this includes information
like the person’s business title, email address, physical address, phone number, role in the buying
process and company. So before the event even takes place, you have captured lead information.
Capture Selling Data during the Webinar
Then during the event, through the Q&A panel, in-session polls, and post-event surveys,
small businesses can capture attendees’ answers to questions, the questions they asked, their
attentiveness rating during the Webinar, and their responses to the in-session polls and post-event
survey in order to qualify attendees as hot leads. Because all in-session polls and post-event surveys
are entirely customizable, small businesses decide which information is most valuable to request
of their Webinar attendees. So, for example, you may ask your attendees what solution they are
already using to find out how many of your competitors’ customers are in your session. Or, at the
exit poll, you may directly ask whether attendees want to be contacted after the session to help you
identify hot leads. You determine which information is most valuable to you.
For simplicity’s sake, some Webinar technologies even allow you to automatically integrate Webinar
data directly with marketing automation technologies through APIs (Application Program Interfaces)
for increased accuracy of data, easy lead follow-up, and time savings. APIs save marketers the time
and hassle of having to manually enter the rich data they collected from their webinar series into
their marketing automation software like Eloqua, Marketo, or Hub Spot, for example.
The data collection, interactions and features associated with Webinars are what make Webinars
such a great tool for collecting rich and organized data that can help small businesses determine
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 10

11. Smaller businesses in their hottest leads. Every interaction that happens during a webinar – from registration to the post-
event survery – is captured to help marketers close more deals.
the survey estimated
Dramatic Cost Savings over In-Person Events and Trade Shows
they save an average
By their nature, Webinars save significant time, travel, and costs that in-person events and trade
of $47,692 marketing shows require.
dollars a year by Smaller businesses in the survey estimated they save an average of $47,692 marketing dollars a
year by doing fewer in-person events and more Webinars.
doing fewer in-
person events and Getting More Small Business Marketing Leads
more Webinars. and Sales Conversion from Social Media and
Online Marketing in 2012
With the projected increase in social media and online marketing tactics such as marketing via
Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, as well as more established media such as email marketing
and Webinars, there will be more requests for the attention of your prospects in 2012, so it is
Social media important to understand best practices that leading organizations large and small have found
profitable.
marketing in
While each organization has a unique set of circumstances to consider for their marketing efforts
combination with in 2012, small business executives and marketers have a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on
these newer forms of media to tune up their marketing engine and master the ability to gain more
Webinars helps
customers and sales in any environment.
smaller businesses,
Key Recommendations for Small Business Marketing Success in 2012
regardless of their
Some key recommendations for small business marketing success in 2012 are:
size or market 1. Build Social Media and Online Contacts and Get Permission to Market to Prospects –
share, expand their Permission Marketing is not just for building an opt-in email list or Twitter following, although
that is a big part of it. Getting prospects onto your list at different stages of the information
market reach and gathering or buying process will open the door to many more potential buyers and help you build
a large marketing list. For example, invite LinkedIn connections to your next webinar to turn those
compete on a level connections into customers.
playing field with all 2. Take Advantage of Effective Online and Social Tactics and Technologies – Those small
businesses that are able to take early advantage of marketing opportunities online and in social
competitors.
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 11

12. channels will gain a competitive edge. Likewise, it is easier for smaller companies to adopt and
benefit faster from new technologies such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Automated Follow-up Campaigns
with CRM, and Email Marketing because they are more flexible and nimble than larger companies.
3. Even in Our New “Social World,” Build Your Email Marketing List, Now – Email marketing
offers a fast, cheap, and effective way to reach prospects, clients, or influencers. Those small
businesses that build and cultivate a relatively large email list will lower their cost of conversion
and be able to create sales quickly through relatively aggressive email marketing campaigns. For
example, the majority of Webinar registrants still come from a simple email invitation.
4. Consider Webinars in the Social Media Marketing Mix – As discussed above, Webinars help
smaller businesses, regardless of their size or market share, expand their market reach and compete
on a level playing field with all competitors. Your own, a partner’s, or a speaker’s social media
marketing channels are all great avenues for Webinar promotion.
5. Track and Improve – One of the many benefits of online and email marketing is it is easy
for small businesses to track the results from each marketing campaign, repeat what works, and
improve over time. Make sure your organization is still focused on ROI when using newer media
and technologies.
Summary
Small business executives and marketers are increasingly using social media and online marketing to
generate leads for their organizations. More are taking advantage of these marketing technologies
such as Webinars in 2012 than ever before, and organizations are also increasing the average
number of online events they will hold. Webinars are allowing marketers to reach more prospects,
leverage the rich data that the Webinar process provides, and deliver more qualified leads to sales.
This white paper has presented some insights into these trends and also shared ideas about how to
get more leads and sales from your own online and social media marketing and Webinars. Try some
of the best practices put forth here and reap the rewards in your own organization.
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 12

13. Webinars Made Easy®
Citrix GoToWebinar is the easy-to-use do-it-yourself webinar tool that projects your message to up
to 1,000 online attendees. With GoToWebinar, you can reduce travel costs, generate more qualified
leads at a lower cost and enhance communication with customers, prospects and employees.
All You Can Reach® for one low monthly flat fee.
About the Author
Bob Hanson is the President of lead generation and conversion consultancy Quantum Leap
Marketing and creator of the Must-See Webinars™ success system. He has also published a recent
guide to online lead generation, the “What’s Working Now in B-to-B Lead Generation Guide:
Webinars and Social Media.” To get a free chapter of the guide or more information about his
services, email bhanson@qlmarketing.com or call 617-901-6886.
© 2012 Quantum Leap Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reproduced in any form by any means, nor may it be distributed
without the permission of Quantum Leap Marketing, Inc., nor may it be resold by any entity other
than Quantum Leap Marketing, Inc., without the prior written authorization of Quantum Leap
Marketing, Inc.
THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS”. ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS,
CONDITIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OR FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS
ARE DETERMINED TO BE ILLEGAL.
QLM | Bob Hanson | 617-901-6886 | What’s Working in Small Business Marketing and Webinars in 2012 13