Small Business Social Media Statistics

We are constantly reading and researching a lot on different micro business issues, with social media being a constant hot button issue. Throughout our reading have come across many useful statistics and figures that help showcase the benefits of social media for small and micro businesses. It’s safe to say that no matter who has conducted survey, even our very own, there is no doubt that social media is something that is trending upwards.

Since social media is a platform for sharing, we’ve gone ahead and put together a high-level list of social media statistics to share with you. There are many eye-catching statistics, gathered over the past year plus, that will get you thinking about social media differently and how your micro business could potentially play in the space. What stats stick out to you?

Social Media Usage:

• Small businesses usage of social media: 27 percent use Facebook, 18 percent uses LinkedIn, 8 percent use location-based services (Facebook Places, Foursquare™, Gowalla, etc.), 8 percent use blogs and 7 percent use Twitter. – Network Solutions
• Small business owners who are using social media are primarily engaging in social media through company pages (75 percent) and status updates (69 percent) on Facebook or LinkedIn. – Small Business Success Index™/Network Solutions® and the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business
• It’s easier to reach women on social media than men and 45+ years old females are driving the growth in social networks. – ComScore
• Some form of social media is being used by 65 percent of micro businesses, with 48% citing facebook as the most common platform – Vistaprint.
• Small businesses asked what new hire would most help their business, 9 percent said a social media expert, making it the second most popular choice after bookkeeper. – Small Business Monitor/American Express OPEN
• Small business owners found the time it takes to use social media sites more daunting than expected, 61 percent are still putting in the hours and making active efforts to identify new customers. – Small Business Success Index™/Network Solutions® and the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business
• Less than 3 percent of micro businesses are using Twitter for their business – Vistaprint.

Social Media Growth:

• Facebook has grown by 55 percent and is the top social media site where advertisers are spending their marketing budgets. Twitter & LinkedIn, with a fifth of the popularity, are growing at close to 26 percent with LinkedIn emerging as the 3rd popular social network for job seekers. – ComScore
• 35 percent of United States small businesses reported using online social networking for marketing, up from 15 percent in fall 2009. In addition, 12 percent of SMBs were using blogs as a social tactic, nearly double the figure from fall 2009. – Small Business Monitor/American Express OPEN
• Research shows that social media adoption by small business doubled from 2009 to 2010. 61 percent of small business owners now use social media to help identify and attract new customers, 75 percent have a company page on a social networking site, and 45 percent expect their social media activities to be profitable within the next 12 months. – Social Media Today
• The number of people who are visiting social media sites has increased by 24% over the last year – The Neilson Company

Social Media Investing:

• One-third of small and mid-sized business owners revealed plans to significantly boost their social media spending this year. – Borrell Associates
• In the next twelve months, 46 percent of small business decision-makers expect to have a social media presence, 66 percent expect to have a website, and 36 percent expect to have an SEO plan. – Network Solutions
• Traditionally, small business marketers have favored email and search, and spent the majority of their marketing dollars offline. In 2009, only one-third of SMB marketers viewed Facebook as “very” or “somewhat” beneficial. But for 2010, 74% planned to increase their use of email marketing and 68% planned larger expenditures for social media. – ThoughtPick.com
• 40 percent of micro businesses will explore social media in the future, or keep their social media usage the same in 2011 – Vistaprint.

Social Media Results:

• Almost one-half of small businesses have successfully connected with new customers through social networks (compared to larger companies at 28 percent and medium-sized businesses at 36 percent). – Regus Survey “Social Success?”
• 90% of consumers say they trust recommendations from people they know, and 70% trust consumer opinions posted online. – The Neilson Company
• Gary Vaynerchuk, a social media fanatic, spends 12 hour a day engaging online markets which helped bolster earnings for his father’s quaint New Jersey-based liquor store from $4 million to $50 million “through social media” alone. – ThePersonalityProject.com