5 Interesting Social Media Marketing for Small Business

Are you curious to know how effective social media is for small businesses? Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report, which surveyed 3,720 marketers, business owners, and soloprenuers from the U.S. and overseas, found some meaningful social media trends we thought would be important for small businesses to note.

1. Social Media is Critical for Small Business 

According to the survey, 96% of participants use social media marketing, and 92% of those agree or strongly agree, “Social media marketing is important for my business.”

Credit: Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report 

2. Facebook Dominates Small Business Social Media Marketing 

The majority of respondents agree: social media marketing is best done on Facebook. 93% of respondents use Facebook, ahead of Twitter at 79%, and 62% of respondents plan to increase their use of marketing efforts on Facebook within the next year.

Credit: Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report

Moreover, with the success of Facebook’s advertising product, 52% of respondents mentioned they would be increasing their use of Facebook advertising in the future. Overall, with the low cost and narrow targeting that social media ads provides, aggressive marketers will experiment with various social media channels for advertising this year and next year. This includes Facebook and other channels such as Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest well in 2016.

Credit: Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report 

3. B2B Small Businesses Use Social Differently Than B2C 

According to this industry report, marketers prefer certain social media channels depending on their type of business. For B2B respondents, the survey reported that LinkedIn is the number one choice for social networking. A large majority of B2C companies, on the other hand, reported that Facebook is their first choice.

Credit: Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report 

4. Social Media Cuts Marketing Expenses in Half for Small Businesses 

Social media developed the reputation for allowing brands to reach audiences at a low price. Even before 2014, Facebook was allowing businesses to reach audiences for free. While that changed in spring 2014 with Facebook’s introduction to its advertising product as well as a exponential decline in organic reach for page posts, many small businesses (51%) with 10 employees or fewer still believe that it reduces overall marketing expenses. However, for enterprise-level companies with 1,000 or more employees that tend hire staff to carry out their social media did not agree. With the added labor, it’s not surprising that 59% or large companies did not find cost savings with social media.The graph below shows the majority or marketers who are spending more than 6 hours a week promoting through Facebook for 2-3 years agrees or strongly agrees that social media marketing reduced marketing expenses.

Credit: Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report 

5. The Top Social Media Content is Visual, Blogging, & Videos

Because of limited resources, it’s important for small businesses to determine which channel drives the most valuable traffic and which type of content brings the most engagement. Blogging and visual content nearly tied with 70% and 71%. Self-employed businesses depend on blogging (79%) while just 10% use podcasting. Video content finishes third most desired type of content by small businesses.

Credit: Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report 

When it comes to social media marketing, it’s important for small businesses to be well-informed in order to spend wisely and capture opportunities. For every bit of insight and research, marketers can increase their chances for success. Get more from Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report here.