![SMBs' Most Effective Marketing Methods, 2014 vs 2015 [TABLE]](https://trends.e-strategyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/171598.gif "Table - SMBs' Most Effective Marketing Methods")
Small-business websites boost customer engagement, and a January 2015 study by Thrive Analytics found that US small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) were seeing more success with the channel than any other.
When SMBs were asked which marketing methods had been the most effective, company websites—the No. 1 response in 2014—remained the most popular, at 45%. This was 6 percentage points ahead of social media and 19 points above print yellow pages—and blew all other channels out of the water by 30 points or more.
Nearly half (49%) of SMBs intended to increase their marketing budgets this year, and websites will reap the benefits of that spending. Fully 36% planned to up expenditure on company websites—the highest percentage out of all channels studied. Social media, mobile advertising, online display ads and paid search all followed closely behind, each cited by around one-third. Read the rest at eMarketer.
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