The fragmented nature of the small and midsize enterprise (SME) market provides an enticing, yet challenging, sales opportunity for print service providers. While the individual opportunities are relatively small, the sheer number of business opportunities provides an enticing opportunity for service providers. Aggregated, this opportunity is too big to ignore; by leveraging the cloud, solutions can be created that are scalable and affordable to meet the changing demands of marketing. Companies like VistaPrint have understood the magnitude of the opportunity early on and began to reach the SME market through web-enablement and relevant print templates, followed by digital marketing such as e-mail; search marketing; and (more recently), website design solutions, social media profiles, and a CRM through its acquisition of Webs, Inc.

Like large enterprises, SMEs are facing a dynamically changing media mix. No matter the medium of choice, SMEs want to look credible and professional as they spread the word about their businesses. The Internet and, especially, social media disproportionally favours SMEs because they now can use low-cost media to reach and build customer relationships that previously were only reserved for large companies with big sales teams. Nevertheless, unlike most enterprises, the SME market faces a resource struggle divided between time, money, and expertise - and (as such) requires more help to sell in the cross-media world. They want simple yet powerful solutions that integrate and automate marketing across print, online, mobile, and social media channels.

This study, Capturing the European SME Marketing Automation Opportunity, provides a complete understanding of the SME marketing automation market opportunity as it exists today. It also explores the expanding media mix that is driving the demand for automated solutions to accommodate a variety of media communication preferences. Ultimately, the study is intended to provide context and direction for software and service