How important is tech to SMBs? What motivates them to buy new technology? What hardware and software will they buy, and how long does it take them to make a purchase decision? What software do they prefer to host locally, and why do they migrate to the cloud? To answer these questions – and many more – we surveyed 600 U.S. SMB principals.

1. October 31, 2018
SMB Tech Purchase Plans:
What, Why and When

2. INCREASING SALES TO SMBS
2

3. INSIGHT
3
Topics Methods Output
• Attitudes and usage
• Buyer identification
• Competitive perceptions
• Market segmentation
• Media behaviors / preferences
• Message / positioning testing
• New product testing
• Net promoter score
• Persona / buyer journey
• Purchase intent, behaviors,
channels and preferences
• Qualitative
• Live / online focus groups
• Workshops
• In-depth interviews
• Quantitative
• Custom online
• SMB Pulse omnibus
• SMB Finance, HR, IT &
Marketing Pulses
• Insight for CE / product /
marketing strategy
• Data for PR / content / social /
collateral programs

4. OUTREACH
4
Video
Email
Newsletters
Checklists /
Worksheets
Case StudiesArticles Blog Posts
White Papers
Podcasts
eBooks
PR Surveys
Social Media
Handbooks /
Guides
Webcasts
Slideshows
Infographics
Interactive
Tools
• Survey data
• Creative brief
• Editorial calendar
• Content development
• Content audit
• Analytics
Contribution
• Expert
• Actionable
• Relevant
• Easy to understand
• Professional
• Brand-building
• Custom
Principles
Direct Mail
Event
Collateral
Brochures /
Sell Sheets
Custom Pubs

5. 5
WHAT WE’LL COVER
Why SMBs move to the cloud
What SMBs will buy – and when
Why SMBs buy tech
Engaging SMBs, and the role of content
Brand penetration and NPS

6. 6
METHODOLOGY
1
2
HOW
WHO
Online survey via the Bredin.com/SMBPulse
600 principals of U.S. companies with ≤500 employees (4% +/- CI)
350 VSB
<20 employees
(97.71% weighting)
150 SB
20-99 employees
(1.96% weighting)
100 MB
100-500 employees
(.33% weighting)
3 WHEN September 12-24, 2018
Company Size

7. 45%
55%
Female
Male
Professional Services 28%
Computer Software/Internet 6%
Computer Services/Consulting 4%
Financial Services/Accounting/Bookkeeping 4%
Medical 4%
Advertising/Consulting/Design/Marketing Services 3%
Architect/Engineering 3%
Banking/Insurance/Mortgage 2%
Publishing/Printing/Media 2%
Legal 1%
Retail/Wholesale 28%
Retail 13%
Real Estate 5%
Wholesale 4%
Food/Beverage/Restaurants 3%
Entertainment/Recreation 2%
Travel/Hotel/Hospitality 2%
Manufacturing 29%
Construction/Mining/Contracting/Electrical/Landscape/Plumbing/etc 16%
Manufacturing/Transportation and Warehousing 7%
Automotive 2%
Computer Hardware/Electronic Equipment 2%
Energy/Utilities 1%
Telecommunications 1%
Pharmaceutical/Medical Devices/Biotechnology 0%
Other 16%
Personal Services 12%
Education/Training 4%
Title
47%
33%
21%
50+
35-49
18-34
Age
Gender
58%
25%
17%
1 to 19
Employees
20 to 99
Employees
100 to 500
Employees
Company Size
CHARACTERISTICS
7
100%
Principal (e.g.,
owner, founder,
partner, CEO,
president, etc.)
Industry
n=600

8. 15%
28%
30%
26%
Less than 4 years
4 to 9 years
10 to 19 years
20 or more years
50%
15%
21%
15%
Less than $500k
$500k to $999k
$1M to $4.9M
$5M+
3%
3%
23%
25%
37%
9%
Down more than 10%
Down by less than 10%
Same as 2017
Up by less than 10%
Up 10% to 100%
Up by more than 100%
Years in Business
Geography
2018 Revenue Growth
2017 Revenue
Northeast
21%
South
38%
West
19%
Midwest
22%
CHARACTERISTICS
8
16%
44%
41%
Population Density
n=600

9. DETAILED FINDINGS

10. SMB optimism increases with company size, and decreases with respondent and company age
10 n=600
SMB BUSINESS OUTLOOK
How do you expect your 2018 revenue to compare to 2017?
Respondent Age
Revenue Outlook
Company Age
42%
62%
75%
82%
58%
38%
25%
18%
Less than 4 years 4 to 9 years 10 to 19 years 20 years or more
30%
62%
77%
70%
38%
23%
18-34 35-49 50+
No / Slow Growth Fast / Hypergrowth
Company Size
70%
37%
24%
30%
63%
76%
VSBs (<20) SBs (20-99) MBs (100-500)5%
5%
32%
27%
26%
5%
Down more than 10%
Down by less than 10%
Same as 2017
Up by less than 10%
Up 10% to 100%
Up by more than 100%

11. In aggregate, SMBs are almost evenly split on tech adoption attitudes
11 n=600
ATTITUDES TOWARDS TECH
33%
42%
25%
We see it as essential to our business
success, and adopt / develop it aggressively
It is important, but we wait until technology
is proven before we adopt it
It is an expense that we try to minimize we
only adopt technology when absolutely
necessary
1/3 of SMBs
see tech
adoption as
essential to
their success
Which of these statements best describes your company’s attitude towards technology?
Early adopters
Mainstream
Late adopters

12. Tech attitude varies by growth outlook, respondent age and headcount
12
19%
45%
36% 37%
43%
21%
45%
40%
15%
58%
36%
6%
Hypergrowth
Fast growth
Slow growth
No growth
n=600
Which of these statements best describes your company’s attitude towards technology?
ATTITUDES TOWARDS TECH: DETAIL
67%
23%
9%
48%
37%
15% 22%
47%
31%
18-34
35-49
50+
Business
Outlook
Respondent
Age
32%
43%
25%
67%
27%
6%
74%
23%
3%
SBs
Company
Size
MBs
VSBs

13. In aggregate, SMBs buy tech to improve company capabilities and data security…
13
ADOPTION DRIVERS
29%
31%
39%
39%
40%
44%
46%
47%
47%
48%
48%
Improve employee satisfaction / productivity
Improve mobile access to applications / data
Take advantage of a growth opportunity
Keep up with changes in customers’ use of technology
Keep up with competitors
Current solution is dated / not working well
Cost savings
Improve reliability
Improve business performance / processes
Improve data security
Improve functionality
n=600
% rated very important
Please rate the importance of each of these possible reasons for purchasing new technology for your business:
Gen X (35-49) are most likely to
be motived by potential growth
opportunities (59%), well ahead
of Millennials (18-34, 42%) and
Boomers (50+, 31%)

14. …but SBs prioritize security, and MBs most value growth opportunities
14
Headcount
VSBs (A) SBs (B) MBs (C)
48% 57% 55%
48% 64% (A) 60% (A)
47% 61% (A) 63% (A)
47% 60% (A) 62% (A)
46% 49% 63% (AB)
44% 53% 58% (A)
39% 57% (A) 55% (A)
39% 56% (A) 57% (A)
39% 55% (A) 64% (A)
31% 53% (A) 62% (A)
28% 49% (A) 59% (A)29%
31%
39%
39%
40%
44%
46%
47%
47%
48%
48%
Improve employee satisfaction / productivity
Improve mobile access to applications / data
Take advantage of a growth opportunity
Keep up with changes in customers’ use of technology
Keep up with competitors
Current solution is dated / not working well
Cost savings
Improve reliability
Improve business performance / processes
Improve data security
Improve functionality
ADOPTION DRIVERS: COMPANY SIZE
Please rate the importance of each of these possible reasons for purchasing
new technology for your business:
n=600
% rated very important
Respondents in manufacturing / construction are the most likely to cite ‘improved
mobile access’ (39%), significantly higher than those in professional services (26)%.

15. Millennials prioritize security and keeping current; GenX, improving performance
15
Respondent Age
18-34 (A) 35-49 (B) 50+ (C)
54% 55% (C) 45%
57% (C) 56% (C) 44%
55% (C) 61% (C) 41%
42% 60% (AC) 43%
35% 57% (AC) 44%
57% (C) 48% 41%
54% (C) 51% (C) 34%
48% (C) 53% (C) 33%
42% (C) 59% (AC) 31%
46% (C) 52% (C) 22%
48% (C) 44% (C) 20%29%
31%
39%
39%
40%
44%
46%
47%
47%
48%
48%
Improve employee satisfaction / productivity
Improve mobile access to applications / data
Take advantage of a growth opportunity
Keep up with changes in customers’ use of technology
Keep up with competitors
Current solution is dated / not working well
Cost savings
Improve reliability
Improve business performance / processes
Improve data security
Improve functionality
ADOPTION DRIVERS: RESPONDENT AGE
Please rate the importance of each of these possible reasons for purchasing
new technology for your business:
n=600
% rated very important
Southern SMBs are significantly more likely to say ‘cost savings’ (59%) vs.
those in the West (41%), Midwest (40%), and Northeast (35%)

16. TECH PURCHASE PLANS

17. SMBs are most likely to buy cellphones and PCs in 2018 and 2019
17
TECH PURCHASE OUTLOOK
18%
16%
12%
12%
10%
10%
9%
9%
8%
6%
24%
28%
24%
17%
15%
16%
12%
14%
13%
15%
15%
23%
18%
13%
12%
12%
10%
13%
10%
14%
57%
67%
54%
41%
38%
37%
32%
36%
31%
36%
Cellphone(s)
PCs / laptops / desktops
Printers / copiers / fax machines
Tablets
Routers / switches / wireless access points
Database software
Phone systems
Operating systems
Onsite servers and storage
Other system software, e g virtualization, network
management
By the end of 2018 In 2019 After 2019 = % planning on buying or upgrading
What is your best guess as to when you will buy new / additional, or upgrade, each of these technologies for your business?
Please pick the most likely option in each row. Pick the earliest option if you will buy any given item multiple times.
n=600
Younger businesses (<10 years) are more
likely to have purchase plans ‘by the end
of 2018’ for all 10 product categories
Want to watch the entire
Fastcast? Watch it here.
Want to talk with the B2SMB
experts? Email us at:
info@bredin.com