The January Small Business Card Monitor Report looks at the business advice resources offered by credit card companies for entrepreneurs. We examine the blogs, user forums and commentary pages that offer business thought leadership. Six firms are included in this month’s report.
Specifically, we focus on the following criteria for business advice resources:
- Accessibility
- Quality and timeliness
- Interactive features
We favor materials that are well-promoted and highly accessible, and are also regularly updated and engaging to read. Top firms allow users to interact with content by posting questions and sharing materials on social media platforms.
Small business advice resources are generally of good quality. We awarded four As to firms that offer engaging materials that are regularly produced and allow client interaction. We gave out one B and one C in this month’s report.
Two firms provide their small business advice resources in a forum-type outlet, where users can create a profile, read new content and post questions to the community. Two firms offer a network where users can find insights from other business leaders, as well as read content. Firms are evenly split between offering off-site blogs and resources on their credit card sites.
Social media sharing is a common feature for small business advice resources. Five out of six card companies include icons for posting articles and videos on social media platforms, with all five providing links to share on Facebook and Twitter. Other common social media networks promoted on business advice pages are LinkedIn and Google Plus.
Firms tend to provide advice on similar topics, such as management, marketing, growth and innovation, technology use and business finance. Firms are split between organizing resources by topic and by phase of business development. All firms provide both articles and multimedia posts.
Notable findings in this report include:
- 50% host resources on their main site
- 50% offer materials on an external blog
- 33% use a forum model
- 83% offer social media sharing icons
- 83% promote sharing on Facebook and Twitter
- 66% provide a link to share on LinkedIn
- 100% offer text and video posts
- 50% allow users to submit questions
- 83% allow users to search or sort posts
