Are SMEs struggling with social media marketing?
August 9, 2011 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
It seems that many small business owners believe in the power of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter et al when it comes to marketing their business, but don’t have the time, resources, and often the inclination, to make effective use of them.
According to a new poll of 500 decision makers, nearly a third of them said Facebook would be effective in generating sales for their business, but only 5 per cent of respondents said that they are using the site for marketing their business and exploiting it fully.
Similarly, 18 per cent thought LinkedIn would generate sales leads but only 3 per cent are using it to the full. The figures for Twitter are 17 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.
Using social media as a business development tool will not always be the right route for every single SME, but what the research importantly shows is that there seems to be a gulf between those who say that a particularly social media site would be effective for generating leads, and the number who seem to be taking advantage of it.
Commenting on the results, Mark Speed, joint managing director of the survey conductor IFF Research, said: “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, the research shows that many decision makers are not taking advantage of these potential “quick wins” either, as 16 per cent of those with a website only update it once or year, or not at all.
The research found that many companies simply lack the time or resource to market themselves, online or otherwise. Almost one in three (29 per cent) respondents said they are doing less marketing than they think is needed, while in terms of finding more time for marketing, 50 per cent agreed that running their business takes up all their time – meaning marketing is an afterthought.
Speed said: “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. And if time’s not a problem, inclination can be. We found that 44 per cent believe marketing is not something they enjoy but feel they have to do.”
