Why SMEs like Mondays - and Wednesdays

Why SMEs like Mondays - and Wednesdays

The SME market is, of course, huge. With a turnover of over £1350 billion, it’s no wonder many companies engage in direct marketing to this lucrative sector, spending nearly £6 billion in doing so. How much of that £6 billion could be saved, or how much could businesses increase their returns, if they had known how the SME market wants to be communicated with?

Luckily, the latest research from the DMA and partners as part of the ongoing survey, The SME Voice, has provided the answers. OK, let’s cut to the chase.

First and foremost, the notion that social media is more powerful than email marketing is not cut and dried according to this report. Email was found to be the preferred method of contact among SMEs, with usage even showing an increase from 69 per cent to 80 per cent as 2010 progressed. One reason may be the rise in popularity of smartphones that allow email to be accessed on the move.

The research also found that SMEs prefer to receive marketing emails on Monday and Wednesday mornings and not more than once a week. It’s a risk though to stick too rigidly to this mantra as we know that the SME market is never stagnant and marketing communication strategies often have to be updated.

Finally, what should businesses be sending to small firms? It may be tempting to bombard them with trumpet blowing and sales propaganda (zzz) but what they actually prefer is a healthy mix of messages focusing on price and product benefits.

Overall the message here is: don’t just presume your marketing material and messages are best suited to your target market — ask them what they want and that feedback will be vital to improving your direct marketing ROI.

So for email marketing, here are the key findings:

• Email rules OK. 80 per cent say so.
• Weekly contact works for email. Calls and direct mail — monthly.
• SMEs like Mondays — get your message in early in the week

John Keating is an expert contributor to Marketing Donut and director at Databroker.

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