From global politics and business to pop culture, 2018 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 2018 in the rearview mirror and 2019 already gaining momentum, now is the time to determine what the New Year will mean for your business. How will you leverage the powerful marketing tools, trends and technology of 2018 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 2018 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 2019. 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.
According to SMB Group, 2019 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.
