Entertainment small businesses lead the way in committing more ad dollars to their digital marketing, more than any other vertical, Small businesses in the entertainment* vertical are allocating nearly half of their advertising budget to digital advertising, according to data from BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor™ survey of small businesses (Q3/2016). The top digital media that entertainment small businesses use for advertising and promotion include email, websites, Internet yellow pages, and video on their websites. Their top social media pick is a Facebook page.

As you can see in the chart below, small businesses in the Entertainment vertical are planning to put more of their ad budget into digital media than small businesses in other vertical categories. Retail small businesses were close behind, with 44.0%. Professional services** small businesses, on the other hand, are planning to put a significantly smaller portion of their ad budgets towards digital advertising.

Six out of ten entertainment small businesses prefer to do their own digital advertising (DIY), rather than pay for some level of assistance. If marketing to small businesses in the entertainment vertical, make sure that you offer an easy-to-use self-serve channel for them. Free trials are effective ways to capture new business with this group.

*Entertainment vertical include entertainment, music, hospitality (caterer/hotel), restaurant or bar, and publishing/broadcasting.

**Professional Services vertical includes consulting, design/architecture/engineering, legal services, advertising/marketing/public relations, and human resources.

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BIA/Kelsey’s LCM, Wave 20 reports can be purchased a la carte in the BIA/Kelsey eStore. Our LCM reports look at where particular SMBs (broken out by size, vertical, etc.) spend the most, as well as the top channels for marketing and advertising. Additionally, our reports provide analysis on the best product and service offers for highly coveted groups of SMBs.