The Who and Why of DIY

After putting the final touches on the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) report from our latest Local Commerce Monitor™ survey of SMBs, I sat down* to write this blog post.

This report is a view of SMBs that told us they prefer a “Do It Yourself” (or “Do It Myself”) model for their advertising and marketing services. This is in contrast to the higher-service level models of “Do It With Me” or “Do It For Me.” (The preference for service models is one of the questions we asked in Wave 18 of our Local Commerce Monitor survey of small-and-medium businesses).

The advertising and marketing services could include, for example: website creation, marketing automation, leads management, media performance analysis, CRM, listings management, etc.

Many of our clients are asking us for information on SMBs that use DIY products. DIY products are popular for several reasons, low-cost being foremost. Publishers, media companies and other service providers find many challenges to implementing a DIY model, however. These run the gamut, from a lack of follow-through by the SMB customers, to frustrations in trying to upsell SMBs to additional products.

In profiling SMBs that prefer the DIY model, we found several surprises. For example, these SMBs are often well-established businesses, in the “maintenance” lifecycle stage. They tend to be moderate-sized SMBs (not the very smallest), and spend more than $13,000 annually on advertising. They’re very oriented to digital media in general, and social media in particular.

This report also includes commentary by Stacey Sedbrook, our Vice President of Strategic Sales Consulting, on the principles and best practices for implementing a DIY model.

The full report can be viewed and downloaded by clients of BIA/Kelsey here. This report is one of a series of drill-down reports on the findings from Wave 18 of BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor™ survey. 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 it provides analysis on the best product and service offers for these highly coveted groups of SMBs. In the coming weeks and months we will be looking at SMBs who prefer “Do It With Me” and “Do It For Me” service models, and SMBs by vertical. To learn more about our LCM survey, click here.

To purchase any of our Local Commerce Monitor drill-down reports, check out our new BIA/Kelsey Shop.

*Actually, I stood up — at the “standing desk” I recently cobbled together. Not just any standing desk — but one where I’m standing on a Bosu ball while at my computer. Try it!