Current Market Trends For The Fastest-Growing SMB Industries

Do you have a small- to medium-sized business?

As you know, to stay competitive in any market, you must stay one step ahead of your competitors.

One way to stay ahead of your rivals is to analyze their traffic and demographics.

If your competitors don’t have a high volume of traffic, it might be more difficult to get insights into their marketing data.

We’ve made it easy for you to quickly see how your industry competitors are gaining success so you can, too!

Let’s look at key insights from a study of the fastest growing industries in SMBs and how Semrush can provide similar insights into your competitive landscape.

About The Study

The Digital Market Trends For The Fastest-Growing Industries Within The SMB Segment study analyzed the global traffic and growth patterns of SMB websites from 2019 – 2021.

The study used OECD’s definition of an SMB as having under 500 employees and annual revenue from $500K – $10M.

Semrush relied on data from its .Trends platform to analyze 150,000 SMB domains, plus SMB information from Crunchbase.

You can get the full marketing trends study here, but let’s look at the highlights to help you start your next marketing strategy.

The Fastest Growing SMB Industries Based On YoY Traffic Growth

What was one of the most positive insights to come from the study?

Site traffic across all websites in the SMB segment increased throughout 2021.

The following were the top-performing SMB industries, in relation to year-over-year traffic growth:

Pharmaceuticals (+406.18%)
Venture Capital (+405.90%)
Facilities Services (+384.14%)
Warehousing (+305.85%)
Computers and Electronics (+284.88%)
Biotech (+222.67%)
Healthcare (+220.38%)
Civil Engineering (+216.41%)
Oil and Gas (+153.49%)
Nanotechnology (+149.64%)

The pandemic played a major role in the exponential growth of many sites in these verticals, especially when you consider the disruptions to supply chains, skyrocketing prices for consumer goods, focus on healthcare and medicine, and the financial boom.

The Growth Of Top SMBs’ Websites Vs. Industry Leaders’

Below, you can see the growth rates of the top five visited SMB websites alongside the top five industry leaders’ websites in each of the above industries.

Screenshot from Semrush Digital Trends, Nov 2021

With the exception of Venture Capital and Nanotechnology, the five SMB websites with the fastest YoY traffic growth grew 420 times faster than leaders in their industry.

Websites for well-known brands in Pharmaceuticals, like Walgreens, saw a 275.17% YoY traffic growth, while SMB websites for brands like Tricida saw a 64,961.37% YoY traffic growth.

The Top Traffic Channels For Fastest-Growing SMB Websites

Which traffic channels drive the most visitors to the fastest-growing SMB websites?

According to the study, these channels drive visitors to the 150,000 SMB websites that were analyzed:

Direct: Visitors who arrive without a trackable source, such as typing the URL of the website in their browser’s address bar or using a saved bookmark to reach an SMB website.
Search: Visitors who click on a link in organic Google search results to reach an SMB website.
Referral: Visitors who click on a link from another webpage to reach an SMB website.
Paid: Visitors who click on a paid ad to reach an SMB website.
Social: Visitors who click on a link from a social media network to reach an SMB website.

The following image shows a breakdown of traffic channels by industry:

Screenshot from Semrush Digital Trends, Nov 2021

Some notable standouts include SMB websites in:

Computers and Electronics, which received 86.04% of its visitors from direct sources.
Civil Engineering, which received 53.11% of its visitors from organic search.
Nanotechnology, which received 51.35% of its visitors from referral sources.
Venture Capital, which received 48.93% of its visitors from social media.

The Top Social Media Channels For Fastest-Growing SMB Websites

Social media marketing is an important component of any digital marketing strategy.

Let’s take a look at the top social media networks that drove visitors to SMB websites in the fastest-growing industries.

Screenshot from Semrush Digital Trends, Nov 2021

Across most of these industries, the leading traffic-generating networks are Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Reddit.

Demographics For The Fastest-Growing SMB Industries

Could a similar audience be the reason for the increased growth rate in certain SMB industries?

Below, we can see key age and gender details for the fastest-growing SMB industries.

Screenshot from Semrush Digital Trends, Nov 2021

With the exception of Computers and Electronics, the audiences for most industries are balanced in terms of gender.

The 18 – 34 age range makes up almost half of each industry’s traffic.

How To Gain Marketing Insights For Your SMB With Semrush

Gain insight into the strategies of competitors in your market with Semrush’s several market analysis tools.

Analyze a new market and gain the in-market audience insights you need to get a competitive advantage with our set of Market Explorer tools.

Identify the Leaders, Established Players, Game Changers, and Niche Players in your market with the Growth Quadrant, which can map out your entire competitive landscape.