Skip to main content

Growing SMB Social Media Marketing Usage


eMarketer reports that U.S. small and medium businesses (SMBs) are adopting social media marketing in greater numbers, according to a market study by Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland.

Social media usage increased to 24 percent, from 12 percent the year before.

It's interesting to note that the most common usage of social media among small business was a company page on a social networking site, followed by posting status updates.

SMB expectations of social media are in line with their experiences, although they are not quite as successful as they had hoped.

Survey respondent's top accomplishments were customer acquisition and placing their own businesses within the market, but did not meet expectations fully.

Social media's capabilities for staying engaged with consumers and collaborating with other businesses, however, were more in line with user expectations.

Most SMBs say they are breaking even with their current usage of social media, but one-fifth find it profitable already. Nearly one-half believe it will make them money in the next 12 months, and another 39 percent think they will break even. Just 9 percent think social marketing will result in a loss.

Overall, 58 percent of respondents believe that social media lived up to their expectations. One-half felt it took up more time than they realized, but only 6 percent claimed negative comments on social media had hurt their business.

Popular posts from this blog

Trends Shaping the Global Smartphone Market

There is a pivotal shift within the global smartphone market. Recent data from IDC highlights a more cautious outlook for 2025, with projected worldwide smartphone shipments seeing a significantly reduced growth rate. This revised forecast underscores the intricate interplay of global economic factors and geopolitical dynamics on pervasive personal communication devices. IDC's latest update projects a mere 0.6 percent growth in worldwide smartphone shipments for 2025, a stark reduction from the earlier 2.3 percent expectation. Global Smartphone Market Development This recalibration is largely attributed to prevailing economic uncertainties, including inflationary pressures and rising unemployment, alongside the persistent specter of tariff volatility. Despite these global tensions, it's interesting to note that the United States and China are still identified as the primary drivers of this modest growth. China, a critical market, is forecast to achieve a 3 percent year-over-yea...