Small Businesses Say Social Marketing Really Works

Mobility and social networking increasingly are seen as fundamental underpinnings of tomorrow's marketing environment. And though it is tough to quantify, some very-small business early adopters do believe social marketing has really worked for them. And while social media takes time, as much as 20 hours a week, respondents say it saves them money.

According to ABI Research, mobile marketing revenues will increase to more than $24 billion worldwide in 2013. CCS Insight believes that by the end of 2009 annual mobile advertising revenue in Western Europe alone will amount to €236 million.

Mobile is crucial for small businesses trying to reach their local consumers, it often is noted, in part because most small businesses sell locally. It also might be true that, though use of social media is not yet mainstream, small businesses--especially those run by sole proprietors--can rely on social media for marketing.

Some 88 percent of respondents to a recent survey of business professionals recruited using Twitter, blogs or Facebook use social media to market their businesses. About half the respondents are sole proprietors.

Twiter was used by 86 percent of respondents while blogs were used by 79 percent of users. LinkedIn was used by 78 percent of respondents and 77 percent said they used Facebook.

Business owners were more likely to use social media marketing (more than 90 percent) than employees working for a business (81 percent). People aged 30 to 39 years were most likely to use social media marketing (92.8 percent), says vMichael A. Stelzner, founder of WhitePaperSource.com.

A significant 61 percent of those investing more than 20 hours per weeks are using social bookmarking sites.

The largest group just getting underway with social media marketing was sole proprietors (30.2 percent reported just getting started) while owners of small businesses with two to 100 employees were the most experienced (29.3 percent reporting doing social media marketing for years).

A significant 81 percent of all marketers indicated that their social media efforts have generated exposure for their businesses. Improving traffic and growing lists was the second major benefit, followed by building new partnerships.

An unexpected benefit was a rise in search engine rankings reported by more than half of participants. As the search engine rankings improve, so will business exposure, lead generation efforts and a reduction in overall marketing expenses. About one in two marketers found social media generated qualified leads.

Social marketing takes time. But it also substitutes for paid media buys.