SMEs are smarter than you think

More than one in four small and medium businesses in the UK use social media to market themselves. That's one of the main findings of an SME marketing survey we have just completed.

I'm really encouraged by that figure. Over 280 SMEs took part in the survey and they came from over 80 different sectors, so it was a pretty good sample - from a wide variety of companies. Social media marketing is in its infancy, but to think that 27.5 per cent of small and medium companies are engaging in social media to build their businesses already shows that UK SMEs are pretty switched-on.

As I say in the press release, this survey shows that small and medium businesses are showing real imagination when it comes to choosing marketing techniques. Companies realise the importance of being visible online and are recognising the benefits of having an up-to-date digital presence. Many are embracing social media and combining this with more traditional marketing methods.

Another interesting fact that came out from the survey was that just over 17 per cent of small and medium businesses had bought-in external PR services. Now, on the face of it that doesn't sound a huge figure but in the context of small businesses - we're talking one to 250 employees here - nearly one in five is a significant minority. When you consider there are approximately one million active small businesses in the UK, that makes for plenty of potential work for PR agencies. But beware - budgets are small. Only eight per cent spend over £100,000 a year on marketing and 55 per cent spend less than £10,000. I suspect that the 17 per cent who buy-in PR are also the ones with the biggest overall marketing budgets.

Consider also that 43 per cent of respondents said they used press release distribution services, then that extrapolates to a lot of small and medium businesses doing PR for themselves. Good on 'em.

Our small and medium businesses are a smart bunch. Let's hope they continue to apply their imagination when it comes to marketing. The SME sector is an oft-forgotten powerhouse of the UK economy.

Check out my recent column on DM Weekly - 'Social media marketing: what big brands can learn from small businesses' (login required).