The 26 million very small businesses (VSBs, with 0-19 employees) in the U.S. represent a huge and growing market opportunity for vendors. But the VSB market is very diverse and fragmented, and changing rapidly due to macro economic, technology and generational changes.

To successfully sell to and serve this market, vendors need a fresh, holistic view into how VSBs accomplish key business functions. In other words, what people, processes, and solutions do VSBs use and plan to use to “get the job done”? By honing their insights in this area, vendors can more closely align their offerings to VSB requirements, and fine-tune content, SEO, SEM and social initiatives for more effective educational and marketing engagement.

The SMB Group, Small Business Trends and CRM Essentials are partnering to create a unique sponsorship opportunity to help you gain the insights and visibility you need to do this with our Very Small Business “Getting the Job Done” Market Insights and Thought Leadership Program. This program provides:

• In-depth research and analysis of VSB behavior, requirements and trends to inform and guide your product/service planning, marketing and partnering initiatives.
• Nurturing consideration and sales showcase on Small Business Trends, the largest small business blog, reaching 4.5 Million annually.
• Content and deliverables for lead generation and marketing, thought leadership, community engagement, competitive differentiation.

The program will be conducted in 3 parts, with each part focusing on a core functional area: Sales and Marketing, Financials, and Operations. In each area, the research will examine:

• What mix of employee, contractor, service and technology resources do VSBs use to get these jobs done? How will this change?
• What do VSBs spend/plan to spend for these resources?
• What’s working and what’s not? What are best practices?
• What information, advice and purchase channels do VSBs use?
• How do factors such as stage of business, age, region and other variables impact behavior?

Leveraging these findings, the program provides sponsors with a comprehensive go-to-market delivery package, including content for your social media, online marketing and SEO initiatives, advertising exposure on Small Business Trends, and research briefs to elevate thought leadership.

To learn more about this sponsorship opportunity, please contact: clientservices@smb-gr.com