Nearly 3 of every 4 small businesses plans to invest in social media marketing this year.

That finding stands out in a new survey from The Manifest. It’s called How Small Businesses Use Digital Marketing Channels in 2019.

The study also found these interesting data points:

Nearly all small businesses (95%) plan on increasing their marketing budgets in 2019.

However, more small businesses choose to focus on internet channels for their marketing efforts. And, 35% prefer digital marketing compared to 31% traditional marketing.

Manifest asked the marketing habits and objectives of 529 small business owners and managers in the U.S.

Around three-quarters of small businesses using social media to promote their services and brand. And social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, remain the most preferred method of digital marketing for small businesses. This demonstrates the value of social media for small companies.

So a large majority of small businesses in the U.S. already choose social media as an effective marketing strategy. And almost two-thirds plan to increase their spending on social media this year.

Top social media channels draw more than 2 billion monthly active users. And small businesses recognize and take advantage of these tools for marketing. They use community pages and groups to promote their own products organically, the research found.

Why Is Social Media Important for Your Business?

Maria Kiagias of the marketing communications boutique Social Gold Group reiterated the importance of social media marketing for small businesses.

“Without a doubt, social media marketing and advertising is our most successful digital marketing channel. Our team measures the success of our campaigns through strict analytics, campaign sales, and the human conversion surrounding the service, product or brand,” Kiagias said in response the survey’s findings.

Alongside social media, websites remain a top digital marketing channel, with 73% of the small businesses surveyed saying they invest in their websites as a marketing forum.

Email marketing is another leading digital marketing channel, with 57% of small businesses investing in email marketing as a means of promoting their products or services and growing their business.

With 85% of the US watching online videos every day, video marketing presents a wealth of opportunities for small businesses.

Despite the lucrativeness of video marketing, Manifest’s survey shows how small businesses are failing to prioritize video marketing, with only one-third of small companies investing in video marketing and just 27% planning on increasing spending on video marketing in 2019.

SEO is another aspect of digital marketing small businesses are failing to exploit and capitalize on to the maximum. The survey found that less than half of small businesses are investing in SEO and attempt to rank higher on the 5.6 billion Google searches that are made every day.

The message of Manifest’s digital marketing trends survey is that while small businesses tend to value digital marketing over traditional marketing and are investing in various channels, namely social media, websites and email marketing to support their business efforts, they are still missing out on invaluable digital marketing opportunities such as video marketing and SEO to increase their customer base and grow.

Article written by: Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead