Social Media for SMBs

Social Media for SMBs
Social Media for SMBs Growth

While Small Business are the Engine Driving Economic Growth, Social Media for SMBs is the Fuel

Few would argue that small businesses drive the economy.

Small businesses are also the primary job creators. In fact, 6 of 10 jobs created are from small businesses. Small Businesses contribute $3 Trillion to the North American economy last year. A great reason for small business owners to feel proud.

Let’s take a look at social media for SMBs, who,  now more than ever, are using social media to “make things happen.

Small Businesses are Using Social Media to Power their Success

Today, which should come as no surprise, small businesses are turning to social media as a channel to grow their business. A full 9 out of 10 SMBs current use or are planning on using social media.

SMB usage of social media is on the rise. More than half of SMBs have increased spend on social media compare to the previous year. The increase is higher than that of any other marketing channel, including email marketing and events.

Top Business Challenges SMBs Turn to Social Media to Solve

Social Media for SMBs Growth
Social media is use by SMBs for growth – Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/

Attracting New Customers

Nearly 2/3 SMBs say that attracting new customers is their top challenge. An overwhelming major state that social media helps them solve this business challenge. Marketing is the top use of social media by SMBs with 94% using social media for marketing.

61% find that social media solves the problem by helping them to gain new customers. Based on this stat, it’s clear that no all SMBs using social media for marketing feel that they have been successful in attracting new customers.

Using Social Media as a Learning Aide

SMBs are finding that social media is useful beyond simply marketing their businesses to gain new customers. Social media is also for learning.

49% of SMBs use Social Media for Learning. Small businesses use social to learn for several key reasons.

  • Access to a network of peers to ask questions and get recommendations
  • Learn from experts in their industry
  • Obtain key learnings, insights and best practices
  • Find information and opinions to answer their questions

When it Comes to Hyper-growth Companies, Social is More Important than Ever

Hyper-growth companies invest in social more than any other channel. Consider the % of hyper-growth companies that have increased spend  in a marketing channel.

  • Social media and social ads – 73%
  • Email marketing – 72%
  • Events – 59%
  • Online ads – 57%
  • Offline ads – 47%

In fact, hyper-growth companies find social to be very effective in achieving their marketing goals. The % reporting that social media is effective for:

  • Branding – 90%
  • Word of mouth – 88%
  • Content marketing – 89%
  • Lead generation – 82%

How Social Media is driving growth for SMBs

A full 9 out of 10 SMBs use social media with 68% of them using social media to inform financial decisions. This presenting an opportunity for finance marketers to deliver relevant, useful content for social selling.

To learn more about this topic, see whitepaper based on the research study from LinkedIn and TNS: http://lnkd.in/SMB-research.

Conclusion

Social Media for SMBs is like sunshine is to plants, enabling them to grow through client acquisition. For SMBs, acquiring new clients is seen as their #1 challenge, with a majority of SMBs feeling like social media has helped them acquire new clients.

SMBs also use Social Media to learn by interacting with peers, learn from experts, while sharing best practices. Social media can also be an effective channel for customer service and recruiting.

Hyper-growth companies are increasing their spend on social media and social media ads, more than any other digital marketing channels. The question is not if SMBs should use social media to grow their business, but which social channels to focus on.

If you would like assistance on understanding which social media channels are best suited to grow your business profitably, then contact us at +1 (518) 557-3502 or email us for a free, no pressure, no hassle consultation.

About

Rick Noel is an experienced digital marketer enabling businesses and organizations to grow through the Internet, while maximizing marketing ROI (Return On Investment). Rick is the CEO and Co-Founder of eBiz ROI, Inc., a full-service digital marketing agency located in Ballston Lake, NY.

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