Does Your Small Business Focus More on Marketing to Existing or New Customers?

“Good” advice for small business marketers depends on who’s making it. Yet, the latest research facts on where small businesses focus their marketing efforts speak loudly.

Whether by cause or effect, about 6 in 10 SMBs surveyed by Manta and BIA/Kelsey now earn the majority of their annual revenues from repeat rather than new customers. And, some 56% are investing less than one-quarter of their time and effort on marketing for customer acquisition. Now, that’s a switch, isn’t it?

So, how are they retaining their customers? 

MarketingCharts reports that it isn’t from their loyalty programs. “According to the report, only 34% of respondents have a loyalty program in place, a figure which is roughly in line with (in fact, slightly lower than) a previous survey from BIA/Kelsey.”

So, what are the benefits of establishing a small business loyalty program?

Here’s an excellent infographic from Merchant Warehouse. Although it focuses on B2C retailers, there’s still value in it for other B2C and B2B companies as well.

Does YOUR small business focus more on marketing to existing customers or acquiring new ones? Why or why not?