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. The report was chock full of graphs and statistical data, and I was struck by how many references small business garnered.
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
- Were 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 know 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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