Do This, Not That: Your Guide to
Successful Marketing in 2021
July 28th, 2021

Madelyn Wing
Director of Partnerships
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2020 was a year like no other
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5
Small Business Survey
Respondent Qualifiers:
● 600 Small business owners
○ Under 200 employees
○ Live and work in the US
○ Operate in legal, healthcare,
automotive, real estate, home
services, financial services, or
advertising
Respondent Demographics:
● Male 65% | Female 35%
● Average age: 39 years old
● Representation: 46 of 50 states
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6
Although SMBs experienced a
38% average drop in annual
revenue in 2020, the future is
bright: 80% report that their
business is now fully recovered.
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Marketing was critical to SMBs success
81% of businesses believe that their marketing strategy was
critical to the success of their business during the pandemic
71% of businesses believe that their marketing strategy was
critical to the survival of their business
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Marketing was critical to SMBs success
SMBs who don’t engage in marketing reported a 5% greater drop
in annual revenue in 2020 than the overall group.
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So what’s working?
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When it comes to marketing tactics and channels, here’s what SMB’s are doing
17% use paid search or PPC
15% engage in SEO or local search
6% do not do any marketing at all
57% use social media
49% have a website
43% use email marketing

What marketing channels and strategies
are most effective for SMBs?
Companies that thrived during the pandemic were:
● 23% more likely to use social media
● 56% more likely to gather customer reviews and testimonials
● 70% more likely to use CRM software
● 108% more likely to use a marketing agency
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Most small businesses
Who engage in marketing say that they have a strategy in place
36%
say they have a strategy
in place to cover the
next three months
45%
have their strategy
mapped six months
down the line
16%
of business owners
have a strategy in place
to cover the next year —
or longer
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And feel that marketing will continue to be
crucial in the future
77%
plan to invest more
time and energy into
marketing strategy over
the next year than they
currently do
43%
plan to invest more
money into developing
marketing strategy over
the next year than they
currently do
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Small business owners who say that their business
doesn’t engage in any marketing activity were
125% more likely
than average to say they feel their business is
destined to fail.
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Having a marketing strategy and
function focusing on a digital
footprint is key to success in this
remote-first new normal.
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And what’s not working?
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Business owners are overwhelmed....
57% of SMB owners feel stressed out by their job
59% of businesses owners don’t have enough time in the day to
complete all of their job responsibilities
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Half
of SMB owners who
don’t have a marketing
strategy in place say
they have no plans to
develop one
44%
of those respondents said that
they are just too pressed for
time and/or overwhelmed with
running a business to focus on
marketing strategy
And can’t find time to focus on
marketing...
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… or are going at it all alone
49%
of small business owners say
that they do all of their own
marketing
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Small business owners who do their
own marketing
report spending
20 hours per week
handling marketing responsibilities
23%
of DIY marketers don’t invest
any money into determining if
their strategies are effective
Spending valuable time without clarity into
what’s actually working
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74%
of small business owners who do their own marketing
report that they would rather spend their time on
primary business responsibilities
And would rather be doing other things
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Business owners who are going alone are
burning out and can’t be sure that their
marketing is effective.
How can they find more time and
resources to devote to marketing?
One obvious solution is partnering with a
marketing agency.
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Some don’t work with an agency
due to budgetary constraints
35%
of SMB owners who do their
own marketing say that
they didn’t have the budget
to hire an outside agency
37%
didn’t feel confident they
would be able to get an
accurate picture of the ROI
on hiring a marketing
agency
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Many have used an agency before
and don't any longer (largely due to financial strain)
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There is good news for
agencies
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When asked if they would use a marketing
agency again in the future
Highly likely: 35%
Somewhat likely: 58%
Unlikely: 7%
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Small business owners who employ a marketing agency
were 20% less likely than average to say that the
pandemic negatively impacted their business.
79% of respondents saw a significant increase in leads
after partnering with an agency.
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100%
of our study participants who employ a marketing agency said that
the investment has paid off
And not a single one of this respondent group rated their business as
“ineffective” when it comes to generating new leads
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SMB owners who employ a marketing agency report
generating, on average, 13 more new leads per week than
those who do their own marketing -- and 21 more per week
than those who hired an internal role to handle the job
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Where is the opportunity for
agencies and SMBs to partner more
strategically?
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The top three complaints from SMB owners who were
unhappy with a previous agency:
#1
The agency was incapable of providing additional assistance beyond lead generation (48%)
#2
The agency was not a strategic business partner (46%)
#3
The program did not feel customized to their brand (43%)
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Why do
SMBs love
their
agencies?
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SMB owners want their agencies to provide more
value and are willing to pay for it.
96%
of respondents said that they would be willing to pay an agency
for additional services to improve their business outside of
marketing — such as customer service/sales training or brand
coaching
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SMBs who worked with agencies previously wished
their agency had:
Helped the business improve customer service: 55%
Recommended new technology to help grow the client’s
business: 51%
Improved workflows between marketing and sales teams: 43%
Helped refine value propositions: 40%
Enabled the business to better track leads: 38%
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SMB owners are looking for
consultative partners who understand
their business and can help improve
the operations of their entire business
beyond just marketing.
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What’s next for SMB owners?
77%
plan to invest more time and
energy into developing
marketing strategies over the
next year
43%
plan to invest more
money into developing
marketing strategies over
the next year
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They’ll invest time and money in…
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See all the data we uncovered
in our report, Clients Tell All:
What small businesses need
from marketing agencies
today
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Businesses who have a focus on digital
strategies feel confident in their ability to
succeed.
SMBs and agencies are a perfect match, and
there is plenty of opportunities to deepen
the partnership.
As businesses increase investment into
marketing strategies, focusing on channels
and campaigns that are the most effective
will maximize that investment.
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Call tracking
pinpoints your
most effective
marketing
efforts
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Focus on the calls that
unlock opportunities
● Purchase local and toll-free
phone numbers
● Track calls from online and
offline campaigns.
● Get call conversion with
popular integrations
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Q&A

Thank You
Contact
Madelyn Wing
Director of Partnerships
madelyn@callrail.com
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