The survey included 304 U.S. small business owners and managers and the results revealed that half are using social media as a marketing tool but only 12% consider it as “essential.” However, 50% of the surveyed participants also revealed that word-of-mouth marketing was an “essential” tool. Other figures revealed in the study showed that among those who subscribe to social media marketing, 19% are on Facebook, 15% are LinkedIn and just 4% use Twitter. The article further noted that just over a quarter considered their company’s official Facebook page as their most important social media channel. Meanwhile, 18% considered their LinkedIn profiles as most socially relevant while 8% relied heavily on their company blogs. Two percent used Twitter while 6% of small business owners used You Tube.
The article noted the surprising value that small business owners put on social media marketing despite its ease of use and cost effectiveness as a business marketing tool whereas word-of-mouth marketing, which may well be the offline counterpart of social media marketing, was given more value by the surveyed participants.
