What are the elements of an effective SMB lead generation program? What are SMB content contact preferences, what lead generation formats and topics do they prefer, where do they look for lead gen content, what contact information are they willing to share, what attributes make it most effective, what devices do they view content on, what is its impact, and who is doing it well? To answer these questions, we recently surveyed over 300 U.S. SMB principals. The results are instructive; there are some great learnings on how content can drive leads. In the full report you'll get valuable insights to put to work right away in your SMB lead generation content marketing plans.

1. Content Marketing for SMB Lead
Generation
June 29, 2016
Bredin, Inc.
www.bredin.com
617-868-6369

2. 2
Research Objective
Give SMB marketers a current perspective on
using content to generate SMB leads
• SMB business outlook
• First, second and third touch preferences
• Content format and topic preferences
• The contact information SMBs prefer to
share
• The attributes of content that drive leads
• The devices on which SMBs view content
• The effect of content on SMBs
• How SMBs rate major brands’ content

3. Methodology
How
• 15-minute online survey
Who
• 303 principals of U.S. companies with <500 employees (5.5%+/- CI)
• 102 with <20 employees (97.7% weighting)
• 101 with 20-99 employees (1.9% weighting)
• 100 with 100-500 employees (0.3% weighting)
• Any industry
• See slides 32-36 for participant demographics
When
• March 22– 29, 2016
1
2
3
3

4. Detailed Results

5. 31%
21%
33%
11%
5%
Up by 10% or more
Up, by less than 10%
Same as 2015
Down, by less than 10%
Down by 10% or more
2016 Business Outlook
5
What is your revenue outlook for 2016, compared to 2015?
More than half of SMBs expect to grow in 2016
n=303

6. Contact Preferences: First Touch
6 n=301
Top-two box
If you were a marketing consultant, how would you recommend that companies contact
you? Please rank these ways that a company can first contact or engage with you from
top (most likely to be effective) to bottom (least likely to be effective).
SMBs prefer that marketers send them advisory content as a first touch
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Allow me to find their marketing content on social media sites
like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
A banner ad with a promotion, discount or special offer
A banner ad with a link to marketing content
Allow me to find their marketing content elsewhere online, like
on news sites
A phone call
Allow me to find their marketing content on their site
An email with a promotion, discount or special offer
An email with a link to marketing content

7. Contact Preferences: Second Touch
7 n=297
Top-two box
If you didn’t respond to the first contact, how would you recommend that companies
contact you a second time? Please rank these items from top (most likely to be effective)
to bottom (least likely to be effective).
SMBs also prefer advisory content as a second touch
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
A banner ad with a promotion, discount or special offer
Allow me to find their marketing content on social media sites
like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
Allow me to find their marketing content elsewhere online, like
on news sites
Allow me to find their marketing content on their site
A banner ad with a link to marketing content
A phone call
An email with a promotion, discount or special offer
An email with a link to marketing content

8. Contact Preferences: Third Touch
8 n=295
Top-two box
If you didn’t respond to the second contact, how would you recommend that companies
contact you a third time? Please rank these items from top (most likely to be effective) to
bottom (least likely to be effective).
As a third touch, SMBs prefer some kind of discount or offer
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Allow me to find their marketing content on social media sites
like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
Allow me to find their marketing content elsewhere online, like
on news sites
A banner ad with a promotion, discount or special offer
A banner ad with a link to marketing content
Allow me to find their marketing content on their site
A phone call
An email with a link to marketing content
An email with a promotion, discount or special offer

9. Format Preferences: Syndicated Content
9
n=301
Top-two box
Marketers often use marketing content as a way to remind you of their brand and
offerings, or to get you to provide your contact information. On a scale of 1 (very unlikely
to read or watch it based on a link or an ad) to 5 (very likely to read or watch it based on a
link or an ad), please rate each of these kinds of marketing content:
SMBs are most likely to click on case studies from a text or banner ad
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
Slideshare
Template
Blog post
Podcast
Cheat sheet
Infographic
Ebook
Workbook
Kit
Checklist
Guide
Video
Webinar / webcast
Survey / research report
Article
Whitepaper
Case study
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report