SMEs failing to maximise social media
Aug 08 2011
Small companies struggle to make effective use of the internet and social media to market themselves, finds research.
According to the SME Omnibus by IFF Research of 500 small business decision-makers, only 5 per cent say that they are using Facebook for marketing their business and exploiting it fully.
For LinkedIn, 18 per cent think it effective for generating sales, but only 3 per cent say they are using it to the full. The figures for Twitter are 17 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.
Mark Speed, joint managing director of IFF Research says, ‘People are still debating how useful social media is as a business development tool and it will not always be the right route for every company. However, there is a striking divide between those who say that a site is effective for generating leads and the number who seem to be taking advantage of this.’
Speed adds that powerful marketing of a service or product can bring great dividends but it does require an investment of time and resource. ‘There are some relatively quick wins, such as keeping company websites up to date with information designed to appeal to customers. However, our findings also show that, of those who have a website, 16 per cent only update it once or year, or not at all,’ he adds.
The research also looked at general marketing issues and found that many companies lack the time or resource to market themselves, online or otherwise.
While a majority – 62 per cent – feel that the amount of marketing they are doing is about right, 29 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises say they are doing less than needed. In terms of finding more time for marketing, 50 per cent agree that running their business takes up all their time, meaning marketing is an afterthought.
“A substantial proportion of SMEs admit they are not doing enough to market themselves but there seems to be no easy solution when time is at a premium,' adds Speed.
Comment by Paul Escudier
Thursday 18th August 2011I'm not surprised SMEs are not exploiting internet marketing or social media to its full extent. We're in a culture of instant gratification and I'm a lot of SME's have jumped on numerous bandwagons with the latest 'must do' online trick, and there lies the problem. For internet marketing to have any success it has to have the correct blend to it. Social media itself for instance is not a marketing tool, it's a customer relationship tool, and won't provide new customers, unless of course we are talking about passive social media which is a different thing entirely. DIY marketing is not an option that should be considered in my opinion as although it seems like a 'free' option the cost in man hours is likely to be huge. The rise of the 'Social Media' expert is not helping either as they tend to be obsessed with 'engagement' to the point of ignoring the economical and infinitely more successful ways of getting more customers for their clients.
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