If you're a small business owner, I'm sure you can easily relate: Your head is likely adorned by quite a few different hats on any given day. So when it comes to social media, it's no wonder so many small business owners have been slow to incorporate this newish channel into their overall marketing strategy. Let's face it: Social media can be quite the time suck!
But hey ... small businesse are catching up, as is evident from this new infographic from the folks over at VerticalResponse, brought to our attention by Marketing Pilgrim this morning. The infographic highlights how small businesses are using social media -- how much time and money they're spending, which social networks they're focusing on, and the challenges they're facing. Turns out a big chunk -- 43% of small businesses -- are spending at least 6 hours per week on social media, with a large focus on Facebook (90% are using it) and Twitter (70% are using it). As for social networks like Google+ and Pinterest, to quote the infographic, "not so much." Check out the full infographic below for more interesting stats.
What statistics from this infographic stand out to you about small business' social media usage?
Image Credit: geishaboy500
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Shahzad Hassan Butt 2:18 PM on October 30, 2012
Very informative. Can anybody tell how to collect such stats for the niche related to any business? That will be very informative for the new folks like me.
Dan Brown 2:19 PM on October 30, 2012
I love these infographics!
I think this info is relevant for both online and offline marketers. It's interesting that most of the focus is on Facebook and Twitter. I understand Facebook but it seems weird that businesses are focusing more time on Twitter then they are on Facebook or Blog content...
I definitely think spending time/money on blog content would be prioritized above Twitter in particular...
I guess it depends on the business too.
Cathy Smith 3:35 PM on October 30, 2012
Your web content is very useful and full of impactful content for a small business owner. Thank you!
Prompt Communications 3:57 PM on October 30, 2012
As a Boston-based public relations and copywriting agency specializing in social media outreach, we here at Prompt Communications realize today’s importance of social media implementation in businesses of all sizes. Our clients acknowledge that social media is here to stay, and the possibilities for publicity are endless. For every new follower, like or retweet that your company collects, the more exposure is created – the ultimate goal for any business owner. As a high-tech communications agency, we like to tweet often and relevantly – ranging from trending topics in technology news, marketing tactics, public relations stunts gone wrong and much more. Interested in those topics? Then look for us on Twitter: @PromptBoston and @PromptLondon.
Prompt Communications 4:23 PM on October 30, 2012
Hello from the Cambridge Innovation Center (Hubspot’s old haunt!) Yes, social media can seem like a “time suck” to some CEOs and they may say that they want to spend less time on social media but this is about education - if you asked CEOs if they wanted to look and use alternate ways to participate in discussion, drive engagement, increase visibility and sales and address customer service then the response may not be ‘we want to spend less time on this”. With regards to which channels, this is all about understanding your target audiences and being present where they are, so to Facebook or not to Facebook (ooh, we feel a blog post coming on) is about the your industry, your audiences and your objectives.
ContentDJ 4:24 PM on October 30, 2012
Want to cut that time down to 10 minutes a week? Try ContentDJ.
Piyush Agarwal 4:28 PM on October 30, 2012
Great Infographic with a lot of information. Thank you, that was helpful.
Matt Burrough 4:43 PM on October 30, 2012
Interesting numbers and engagingly set out. My question is: what measurable results / ROI are they getting back? Would be great to out the activity in context
Howard Lim 4:44 PM on October 30, 2012
Is this B-to-C or B-to-B, I know from running my own B-to-B business that I use Linkedin far more frequently than Facebook or Twitter.
Allison Reilly 5:40 PM on October 30, 2012
I think that 1/3 CEO statistic can be interpreted in different ways. I thought it meant that the CEO or the proprietor specifically wanted to spend less time on social media, and maybe give the role to someone else or to outsource. I thought it meant that, currently, many owners and CEOs do the social media, but don't want it as part of their duties.
Carrie Little-Bey 6:19 PM on October 30, 2012
I love your tips.
Meagan Dahl 6:56 PM on October 30, 2012
Beautiful infograph! It's a positive sign that so many SBs are willing to invest money into their social media presence and shows that they understand the importance of social features including social, search, and content marketing.
I think the percentage number for SB's using Facebook as their primary social media tool is pretty much the norm, wondering how their personal website or blog activity plays into these numbers.
Webster Hanchey 7:28 PM on October 30, 2012
Again, another informative piece, graphically displayed of course, and current. Thanks.
pimpaBZ 10:39 PM on October 30, 2012
"นี่คือธุรกิจของเพื่อนๆเอง" ถ้าอยากสำเร็จต้องตระหนักถึงตรงนี้ให้มาก เรามาทำงานตรงนี้ เรามาสร้างธุรกิจกัน ไม่ได้เล่นขายของหรือทำงานหาเงินใช้ แต่เป็นการสร้างธุรกิจ การทำงานออนไลน์ทุกรูปแบบกว่า 95% เป็นการทำธุรกิจครับ เราเป็นนายตัวเอง ต้องรับผิดชอบธุรกิจของเราเอง อย่าเอาความคิดบ้านๆของความเป็นลูกจ้างที่ทำงานแล้วรับเงินมาใช้กับธุรกิจนี้ มันไม่ได้ผลครับ
Velu loganathan 12:23 AM on October 31, 2012
wowhh nice informative graphics.... Thank you buddy for sharing these kind of attractive content
Bryony Smith 5:15 AM on October 31, 2012
Very good article with some great information within the infographic. will find it very useful for devising a social media strategy for the small business that I work for :)
Keep up the good work Pamela!
Stephen Tamlin 5:20 AM on October 31, 2012
In reply to Haward Lim have a look at this...http://bit.ly/VD06bH. Its a report that shows B2B social media is more LinkedIn focused then twitter then facebook.
Great infographic, I love these, and they are always interesting and popular for click throughs.
I to work on social media for a B2B company, although we tend to use 'online marketing' as an overall strategy as I think everyone should have an integrated online strategy involving social media, seo, online branding, copywriting, email etc not just think posting things on social media will lead to sales.
George Psaltakis 6:24 AM on October 31, 2012
Social Media Marketing, is the best thing to do if you have a small business. I think that someone should spend at least three hours per day for that.
JC Bernal 8:29 AM on October 31, 2012
Great article! I think what takes the most time is trying to be different from all the zillions of post that are out there.
SpireSEO 10:54 AM on October 31, 2012
Great blog - We love your Ebooks and tutorials. Social media marketing is the future. Most business owners now outsource their social media campaigns as they have recognised the importance of search and brand awareness.
Betty 2:34 AM on November 01, 2012
Yes, social media can suck up a lot of time, but after reading "Leverage Social Networks to Drive Business Results" by Lisa Anderson, I am convinced that the time spent on social networking is well worth it- it, in my opinion is one of the most important things an organization can do to better an organization.
http://www.lma-consultinggroup.com/
John Kreiss 11:31 AM on November 01, 2012
Infographics are great. Makes the data easy to interpret and interesting as well.
Anonymous 12:26 PM on November 03, 2012
Which country the infographic refers to?