It’s the end of the year and time for the top 10 SMB Marketing and technology stories of 2016! Thanks to everyone who has read SMB Soup this year. It wasn’t easy to start it from scratch (and in less than two weeks). The untimely closure of Examiner.com meant the birth of a new site in July, thanks to the talented Merrilee Hale, Creative Director Extraordinaire.

Since then, articles about marketing and ERP have claimed the top spots. Without further ado, these are the top 10 Smb Marketing and technology stories of the last half of 2016.

Study finds local search marketing creates real ROI: For local B2C SMBs (that’s an alphabet soup mouthful), the best way to reach potential customers is by engaging in local search marketing.

What Oracle’s NetSuite acquisition means for SMB ERP: NetSuite is a big player in the SMB ERP market. Oracle’s acquisition raised questions for users about the future of their ERP software.

SAP HANA Express Edition eases entry to ERP: Software giant SAP released SAP HANA Express Edition, which would let companies dip their toes into the ERP software with a pared-down version.

SAP SME Summit clarifies 3-tier offerings for SMBs: SAP held its annual SME Summit in Manhattan in November. The company focused on clarifying its three main offerings for SMBs.

Google Fiber aims to connect more SMBs to super-fast internet: Google Fiber started off strong. However, recent reports indicate that cutbacks could lead to the end of the Google Fiber service.

In email marketing, learn the two words to triple your email open rate: A trip to BlogFest also provided information on how to get subscribers to open emails.

Social media plays crucial role in customer decisions: Customers use social media regularly to learn more about companies and their products and services. It’s worth it to leverage social media for your SMB.

When IP telephony makes sense for SMBs: The inaugural SMB Soup post explains what IP telephony is and how it can be beneficial for SMBs.

Use Pokemon Go! for business to catch ’em all: Pokemon Go! fever swept the US this past summer. It turns out that a fun little game could also help boost local businesses.

Stop vomiting in B2B social marketing, Davis warns: B2B businesses are all too eager to push everything out on social channels. At MPB2B, Andrew Davis provided a suggestion: focus!

See you in 2017!

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