Friday 15 February 2013

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10 Statistics Small Business Owners NEED to Know


Working together and assisting passionate Small business owners with their businesses and devising strategies to increase their return on investment through Social Media is very fulfilling and central to our business model.

There are still a major chunk of Small business owners who haven’t bought into the Social Media craze, and unfortunately for these businesses, will be eventually playing catch-up with those who have joined and engaging with customers. According to Yellow Pages in partnership with the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, a study was conducted which indicated that only 27% of Small businesses currently have a Social Presence.  This is quite outstanding considering how many engaged users currently use Social Media (http://thefinesocialmediagroup.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/10-more-startling-social-media.html).

Twitter fans are more likely to buy from a brand they follow (Crowdspring).
 

Here are 10 Social Media Statistics Small Business owners need to know!


1.       Social Media accounts for 23% of customer engagement today – but is expected to increase to 57% - the second most used channel, behind only face to face interaction – within five years – Marketing (Pilgrim).

2.       60% of people who use three or more digital means of research for product purchases learned about a specific brand or retailer from a social networking site. 48% of these customers responded to retailer’s offer posted on Facebook or twitter (MediaPost).

3.       Half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices

4.       66% of new customers use search and online research to find local businesses.

5.       36% of social media users post brand-related content

6.       2 out of 3 social media users believe Twitter influences purchases

7.       40% of companies admit to having no training or governance of social media

8.       One in three small businesses are now using social media

9.       A whopping 77 percent of B2C companies and 43 percent of B2B companies acquired customers from Facebook. (Business2Community)

10.   Nearly 23% of online time is spent on social networks.
 
Don’t forget the most important reasons small businesses should leverage social media are:
- Engage with customers
- Creating a visible online presence
- Controlling image

The common reason I have discovered through my visits to Small businesses is, time. They simply don’t have the time to manage and continue to engage customers, where hiring a Social Media manager could be an option.  

Although it appears easy to do for yourself, one has to be careful since bad management and handling of these social media networks could also work out negative for your company’s image. This is why experts advise small businesses through social media marketing, simply because they know how to make use of social media and are on top of the possibilities and trends.

So, your first priority should be building that relationship with people, not pitching your service or product.

Lead with stories and give them a reason to invest their time in both your business and your online presence!

Have you had any success with it so far? How long have you implemented Social Media? Need assistance? Let us know in the comments section.






Taha Sayed
TheFineSocialMediaGroup
@FineSocialMedia


 

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