Blog » Social Media: The Good News for Small Business
Social Media: The Good News for Small Business
Do you have a social media marketing plan? If you’re a small business or sole trader, a recent report says social media marketing is delivering substantial benefit impacting the profitability of the company. As a social media practitioner, I wasn’t surprised. (NOTE: I did not say I was a social media “expert”) What did surprise me was the significant increase in positive results in the past year.
The 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report contains plenty of interesting data about how companies are behaving when it comes to their online presence. Subtitled, How Marketers are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses, the report was compiled by Mike Stelzner, founder of The Social Media Examiner. Chock full of graphs and statistical data, I was struck by how many references small business garnered in the report.
According to the report, there’s no doubt small businesses are embracing social media and at slightly greater numbers than larger organisations. Specifically:
Small Business
- 58% reported they closed business through social media.
- 89% reported greater exposure for their business
Sole Proprietors
- Were more likely to benefit from qualified lead generation
- Were more likely to see reductions in marketing costs
- Least likely to outsource their social media activities, 11% compared to roughly 25% for medium and large organisations
More than any other group, small business:
- Reported increased traffic to their website
- Were more likely to use LinkedIn
- Plan to increase their blogging activities
- Show interest in learning more about social bookmarking and Ning sites
These statistics reflect my own experience using social media marketing techniques. I encourage you to read the report. You can download it free from the Social Media Examiner website. It’s an easy read and identifies successful models for social media usage. Importantly, it gives insight into coming trends. If you have any doubt about the place of social media in your organisation, you need to read it.
If you’re already convinced about the value of social media but don’t how to go about implementing a plan, The Business of Being David: How to use social media to make your small business big by Australian writer and small business owner Nick Bowditch is a fantastic place to start your research.
What impact has social media marketing had on your business?
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- 6 Practical Ways Twitter Can Help Your Business
- 6 Reasons for Refusing LinkedIn Invitations
- 9 Tips that Improved my Blog
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Comments
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Hi Susan,
I'm sure you're right about the Yellow Pages. I remember people debating the relevance of email and mobile phones, too. The thing about the Social Media Marketing Industry Survey report is that it confirms small business does benefit from social media activity. We're definitely moving past the "Is this a fad?" discussion.
Thanks for stopping by.Posted by Sarah Mitchell, 27/04/2010 4:20pm (2 years ago)
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Hi Sarah,
I read the report and it is interesting. If you look at social media like other marketing activities some small businesses will embrace it and others will not.
The same type of discussion probably went on when Yellow Pages for example was the must do.
The problem I think is that it is often not part of an overall plan as small businesses are encouraged to just jump in.
Posted by Susan Oakes, 27/04/2010 1:52pm (2 years ago)
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Hi Bambi,
I'm still surprised people "don't get" social media but I encounter them too. The interesting thing about this report, from a small business perspective, is the overwhelming success people are having with it.
What social media practitioners find out very quickly is the marketing activities are all the same. Most of the tools are intuitive requiring no training. I would encourage any small business owner to tackle at least one area: Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and give it a try.Posted by Sarah Mitchell, 26/04/2010 7:29pm (2 years ago)
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Though most of the folk I work with are either raving fans, or are at least interested and quite positive about the potential of Social Media tools to contribute towards the marketing of their business, I still have a few who are very negative - and I think it is because they just don't get it.
All they need to 'get' is: We work with people we know (...and hopefully like). We rarely jump into a committed relationship with a stranger. Social Media is a tool for getting to know people. And getting known.
Thanks for the report Sarah.Posted by Bambi at The Woo, 26/04/2010 4:24pm (2 years ago)
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