BY Kathy Crosett
As you approach your SMB accounts and prospects to sell media space, do you have enough data to understand their business and how you can help them? Our research shows that business owners want to engage with sales reps who understand the business they are in and the challenges they face. Only with this understanding can you tap into small business optimism.
Small business overview
What important metrics should you know about small businesses? Vena Solutions’ data shows SMBs generate revenue of about $1.2M on average. Many SMBs are much smaller. Overall, they count on a profit margin of 7%-10%.
Which verticals are most profitable? Vena Solutions analysts point to tobacco shops, entertainment software companies and retail REITs (real estate investment trusts).
The small business outlook
Some small business owners feel confident about their prospects in 2026. A Comerica survey indicates that tech firms and health care services feel most optimistic. But businesses connected to the housing and real estate industry don’t have quite the same optimism, especially as mortgage interest rates remain high.
Retailers and manufacturers remain concerned about the impact of tariffs. But they cheered the recent interest rate cut by the Fed and indicate the change will help them grow.
Small business advertising plans
Most SMB owners expect to grow in 2026. The good news is that a significant portion will buy advertising to generate revenue. Specifically:
- 10% will use traditional advertising
- 18% will use digital marketing
In addition, 24% plan to increase their staff, which is another event that will drive demand for recruitment advertising.
What to know about small business optimism and advertising response
While every business is unique, they share some characteristics as a target audience based on B2B BuyerSCAN data. If you’re trying to reach them, know that 45% of these decision-makers have responded to a social media ad in the past month. Newsletter response is close behind at 42%. The typical response for 50% of these SMB owners is to search for the business online.
Your accounts should be sure to emphasize their physical location when appealing to SMB owners. These owners are 20% more likely than other B2B decision-makers to try to do business with local vendors. In their ad campaigns, your accounts should highlight the qualities that SMB owners are seeking:
- 49% want a vendor who has experience in their line of work
- 48% check out customer ratings/reviews, including on social media
What are small businesses shopping for in the new year?
B2B BuyerSCAN data shows that SMBs overindex for their plans to purchase office renovation services and office furniture and equipment in the coming year. They may be making these purchases to accommodate the new hires they hope to make.
In addition, around 20% will be checking out cloud computing services. And they’ll be seeking IT networking/cybersecurity services. For most SMBs, maintaining this kind of skill in-house would be prohibitively expensive. But they also realize they need solid IT support to maintain operational efficiency and protect against cybertheft.
Targeting small business owners
One way to get up to speed about your account’s business is to run a company-specific local account intelligence report in AdMall. This report can quickly help to make you an expert — on the business and the industry. You’ll learn the top 10 key facts about the business.
In addition, you’ll see the top industry opportunities and challenges. The monthly sales data shows you when the business makes the most revenue. Search traffic history and industry advertising details will allow you to craft an ad strategy to help the time-starved business owner.
Combine this information with the list of their local competitors provided by AdMall, and your prospects and accounts will be more interested in your pitch. Small business optimism runs high at the start of the year. With the right ad campaigns, these accounts can generate the revenue they’re hoping for.
Image by George Piskov on Pexels.
