In the latest spotlight report of Wave 18 of BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor survey of small and medium businesses, the behaviors and attitudes of very small businesses (VSBs) were examined. VSBs are categorized as businesses with 2-9 employees.

Highlights from the study include:

  • Often seen as the “pre-teens” of the SMB world, VSBs dabble in grown-up activities like analytics but also rely heavily on more youthful tools, like social media
  • 43 percent said SEO/SEM is an extremely high or very high priority for them over the next year
  • Email marketing is something they rely on quite heavily and is also a priority for the future
  • SMBs in this employee bracket sometimes focus on being a “lifestyle” business – that is a business that is set up and run by the owners with the goal of sustaining a particular lifestyle or income level — instead of focusing on growth

Learn more about the VSB spotlight report.

Reference:

Marshall, Steve. “When SMBs Start to Blossom”. Blog.biakelsey.com. 2/10/2015.