Who Says Small Business Can’t Do Social Media?

Filed in Featured, Social Media by Matt McGee on July 15, 2010 13 Comments

Not me. And not a survey of senior managers and business owners around the world. Emarketer is reporting on the survey today, a survey that shows small businesses are beating mid-sized and large companies when it comes to acquiring customers via social media. Have a look at the evidence:

smb-social

According to the study, U.S. businesses are not doing as well as those in some other countries at getting new customers via social channels — at least when measured as a percentage of the overall business population of a country. The survey indicates that about 35% of U.S. businesses have succeeded in getting new customers via social media, while more than 50% of businesses in countries like India, Spain, and Mexico have done so.

Comments (13)

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  1. Jack Ringer says:

    I’ve been doing seo and related since 1997 in California and now in my native England.

    I thought long and hard about doing myself a favour and starting a few small business sidelines using my seo talents, wordpress and social media.

    I now dominate the market for street advertising which I am thoroughly enjoying.

    I’m also just launching an online retro “sweet shop” that is very popular and niche.

    Small business works with Social Media 😉

    Jack

  2. Aaron says:

    Matt, I’m all for small business getting into social media. You never know who is watching, or if your small business will get bought by a big business. It is best to have everything in place no matter what happens.

    There are huge amounts of possible customers who use twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc and adding your company to their radar can help bring in customers, even if it is only a few.

  3. Kennedy says:

    We use social media each and every day and have experienced only positive results. Dealing with small businesses on a daily basis, I can see how they have greater success using social media than many larger corporations. I think it’s the ability to acutally be “social” with the customers you acquire via social media. Larger companies might just be looking for numbers, instead of forming actual relationships.

  4. Mike Helton says:

    Matt, as one who sought to stay away from a lot of social stuff on the web, I am seeing that the absence is presenting opportunity for other situations to arise, such as being left behind.

    When the smoke is gone and the numbers are in, social media will be the big winner as the pond with the most fish.

    Sounds a little hoakie I know but as a business owner, we have to embrace it. These numbers show social media will be drawing a lot of attention now.

    Thanks,
    Mike

  5. Anna C. says:

    Be where the traffic is.
    For me it’s not about recognizing how ‘big or small’ you are., it’s the entrepreneurial spirit within you that will drive you to the things that will work best for your business.
    Social Media Marketing is the modern-day form of guerrilla marketing. Keep on learning and grow with your business.

  6. Sandy says:

    I think small business has the most to gain from social media since they are not bogged down by policy, are good at building relationships and can turn on a dime.

    @Mike you’re right, just being present is enough to start getting you noticed.

  7. Sarah says:

    This is great news for me. I have had my head firmly in the sand when it comes to social media, primarily because of an underlying fear of rejection! This week I have taken the bull by the horns and am openly blogging about my Twitter experiment in order to share my experiences and keep me honest! Hopefully I will be able to follow in the success of others… at least your post gives me a grain of hope.

  8. Mark Newman says:

    Small Business works excellent with Social Media, just look at how many people are using facebook, so it really is not too difficult if you have a great offer and a good reason to spread the word virally. Also Geographically it is real easy to find a lot of people to connect with within travelling distance of your business. Social Media is here to stay it is the New rival to Google.

  9. Grant says:

    It’s strange you post this as to honest i have never felt that small businesses were lacking in social media skills anyway. Of course there are those out there that feel they do not need to bother with such things but often small businesses put the extra effort into these things as it is less costly than other promotional methods.

  10. Mark Newman says:

    Clearly many Small Business Owners focus more attention on Social Media Marketing and really can benefit, however there is also a large group of business owners that appreciate that Social Media is big, but do not really know what to do.

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