Wix ShoutOut Helps SMBs Create Facebook Ads

Small and medium-sized business owners are eager to use social media for marketing targeting their local customer bases, but still face substantial obstacles in terms of expertise and resources. Last year I wrote about a survey of small business owners by Endurance, which found that 72% of business owners said that “we don’t have a plan, we just publish when we feel like it,” and 76% said they “post to social media when we have the time.” Just 30% were using social media to post promotions, coupons, and special offers frequently, while 29% did so occasionally.

Social media marketing for SMBs is getting a little easier thanks to Wix, whose ShoutOut service already assists with Web and email marketing. Wix is expanding ShoutOut’s capabilities to include Facebook advertising campaigns and promotions, using the same creative elements as the Web and email products. Wix developed the new capabilities in partnership with Facebook.

According to Wix founder Avishai Abrahami, the company developed the new Facebook component after it became clear that many of the most popular “ShoutOuts,” as the marketing messages are called, were generating a lot of their traffic and engagement from social networks through sharing.

When it comes to online marketing content, Abrahami noted, “Small businesses create something beautiful but then they say now what?  This just takes it another step forward by streamlining the process.”  To do this, “The content of the ad itself is automatically generated, and a lot of the targeting that needs to be done we do behind the scenes for the users; they can choose targets based on location, gender, and age.”

Users select the budget and reach they desire and can preview the ad before it appears. The paid ads are distributed in Facebook feeds with an image, title, and sponsored post label.

Before the new Facebook component came online ShoutOut already had over a million users around the world for its email and Web marketing service, according to the company. It also supplies e-commerce services, including inventory management, product profiles, storefront, and various backend functions.

Wix ShoutOut Helps SMBs Create Facebook Ads

The June 30 Donate & Learn Business Expo is a Must for Toronto's Top Entrepreneurs and SMBs

Join 400 Toronto Entrepreneurs June 30th and learn business, branding, marketing and management strategies needed to succeed. Jam packed with Keynote Speakers and Advanced Workshops, the Green Lotus Donate & Learn Business Expo is a must for SMBs!

Toronto, ON (PRWEB) June 29, 2015

In partnership with Enactus-Ryerson University the June 30 Donate & Learn Business Expo features Keynote Speakers from Microsoft Bing, American Express, Constant Contact and Green Lotus. Providing Expo attendees with valuable insights into what it takes to succeed, lessons learned, and how to apply them to any SMB.

Donate & Learn Expo Workshops provide entrepreneurs and SMBs the opportunity to learn specific strategies to boost business leads by marketing, branding and developing an online presence. Workshops include industry experts:

• Increase Your Marketing Campaign Effectiveness with Microsoft BingAds


• Outrank Your Competitors Online in 5 Easy Steps with Green Lotus SEO Tools


• What are you Worth? Learn How to Increase Your Income Dramatically! Presented by the Investors Group


• Create a Powerful and Engaging Email Marketing Campaign with Constant Contact


• Build a Thriving Brand and Create Explosive Success with Focus Mastery, presented by Chris Crawford of KAMedia

Event Details:
Date: June 30, 2014 at 12 – 5pm
Location: Ryerson University – Ted Rogers Building, 55 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Cost: FREE (donations accepted)
Donate & Register: http://greenlotus.ca/expo

Who Should Attend?
Whether just getting started planning business strategy, or deep into implementation; Donate & Learn Events provide the knowledge, strategies, tools and networking opportunities needed to succeed. Entrepreneurs, business owners, marketing professionals, SMBs and startups will all gain valuable insights that can be applied to their own work.

About the Donate & Learn Initiative
“The concept is simple – instead of paying a conference fee, participants make a $20 tax-deductible donation to Donate & Learn partnering charities,” says Bassem Ghali, the founder of the Donate & Learn Initiative and Head of Client Strategy at Green Lotus.

The Donate & Learn initiative was created by Green Lotus in 2012 to support local Toronto charities and provide informative, educational events with a focus on social media, online marketing strategies, and the tools needed to achieve online marketing goals.

There has never been a better way to learn!

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/Toronto/DonateLearnBusinessExpo/prweb12817612.htm

The June 30 Donate & Learn Business Expo is a Must for Toronto"s Top Entrepreneurs and SMBs

75% Of Small & Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs) Say Internet Marketing Is Effective

In October-November 2014, we (BrightLocal) conducted our annual SMB Internet Marketing Survey.

This is an online survey of businesses with 1-50 employees in which we ask them about their attitudes and use of internet marketing, mobile marketing and marketing services. We ran the survey in conjunction with ChamberofCommerce.com, and we received 736 complete survey responses.

Ninety-five (95%) of respondents are located in North America (92% U.S.; 3% Canada), primarily because this is where our marketing of the survey was focused.

The following charts represent some of the key findings of the survey. The full survey results and charts can be viewed on BrightLocal.

Q: How Much Money Do You Allocate To Marketing Your Business Each Month?

Key Findings:

• 70% are spending less than $500 on marketing per month (vs. 73% in 2013)


• 83% are spending less than $1,000 on marketing per month (vs. 85% in 2013)


• Just 16% are spending more than $1,000 on marketing per month (vs. 21% in 2013)

There has been little change in the distribution of marketing spend since 2013.  The majority of SMBs continue to spend less than $500/month on all their marketing activities, with only a fraction of this allocated to “internet and mobile” (more on this later).

The levels spent vary between industries and also business sizes. We will release some further data/charts comparing industries, but we have analyzed Company Size vs. Marketing Budget, and there is a clear, if unsurprising, correlation here:

Q: What % Of Your Marketing Budget Is Spent On Internet Or Mobile Marketing?

Key Findings:

• 34% allocate less than 10% of their marketing budget to online channels (vs. 33% in 2013)


• 50% allocate less than 30% of their marketing budget to online channels (vs. 49% in 2013)


• 29% allocate more than 70% of their marketing budget to online channels (vs. 28% in 2013)

It’s clear that some SMBs don’t (or barely) engage in online marketing – one third allot less than 10% of their marketing budget to internet or mobile. Others have thoroughly embraced it as their preferred means for growing their business.

It’s likely that different industries and business sizes invest more in online than others, and we’ll be following up with this analysis shortly. (We haven’t crunched the numbers yet.)

For search agencies/consultants, this demonstrates the importance of targeting and pre-qualifying potential customers before you go after them. By understanding their budget levels and commitment to digital marketing, you can ensure you focus on the highest value leads and niches.

Q: In Next 12 Months, Do You Plan To Increase The Money You Spend On Internet Marketing?

Key Findings:

• 37% plan to increase their internet marketing spend over the next 12 months (vs. 21% in 2014)


• 47% are unsure (vs. 47% in 2013)


• 16% have no plans to increase their internet marketing spend in the next 12 months (vs. 32% in 2013)

Great news for the industry! Confidence is up, and SMBs are looking to increase their spend. Nearly 40% of SMBs are looking to spend more on Internet marketing in 2015 than they did in 2014, and many more are still undecided, so this number will rise.

Q: How Effective Is Internet Marketing At Attracting Customers To Your Business?

Key Findings:

• 32% find internet marketing to be “very effective” at attracting new customers (vs. 27% in 2013)


• 75% believe that internet marketing is ‘effective’ or ‘very effective’ at attracting new customers (vs. 68% in 2013)


• 4% don’t do any internet marketing (vs. 8% in 2013)

More good news for the search industry: SMBs increasingly believe that Internet marketing delivers good returns for them.

This lines up with the findings in the previous chart: great confidence = greater spend

Q: Which Of These Success Metrics (KPIs) Are You Most Concerned With?*

Key Findings:

1. Phone Calls are the most valued success metric — 31%


2. Website Traffic came in second — 20%


3. Search Rankings came in third — 20%

For those who work with SMBs, it’s not surprising to hear that phone calls are such a valuable success metric — the phone ringing means business!

It’s surprising to see that “Walk-in Customers” and “Website Enquiries” are lower down the priority list than Site Traffic and Search Rankings. Some of those surveyed won’t deal in walk-in customers, so this may skew the data point, but I would have expected enough businesses to have this type of customer to put it above phone calls.

We should also consider that this survey is about Internet Marketing,  and tracking walk-in customers back to online marketing activities is tricky, so some SMBs may downplay or dismiss the role that online has in driving physical business.

It’s interesting to see that Search Rankings continue to be regarded so highly (they’re almost becoming a taboo subject in the search world these days). But SMBs still regard them as having significant value and equate high rankings to more sales. So, it appears that Search Ranking reports will be with us for a little while yet!

*Note: We didn’t ask this question in 2013, so we don’t have Y-on-Y comparison data.

Comparing Business Size & Type

As we delve further into the data, we will publish insights comparing Company Size and Company Type. These will be published in due course so please look for the follow up post.

Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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About The Author

Myles Anderson is Founder & CEO of BrightLocal.com. BrightLocal provide a unique and specialised set of local SEO tools for SEO Agencies, Freelances and & local business owners. See their Local SEO Research Section for the latest research & survey findings about the local search market.

(Some images used under license from Shutterstock.com.)

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75% Of Small & Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs) Say Internet Marketing Is Effective