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Small Business Marketing: 44% Use Social Media, Only 21% Use Paid Search

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Marissa McNaughton | 2 Comments

Social media is now the #2 choice for US small businesses using online marketing, second only to company websites. As of March 2011,

  • 44% of survey respondents use social media for marketing
  • 28% use SEO
  • 21% use paid search

More small businesses plan to use social media in their online marketing in 2011 than any other method (other than their company website).

Other research supports the significant role social media is playing in small business marketing.  A study of U.S. local businesses from the first quarter of 2011 shows that 70% are using Facebook, 40% are using Twitter, and 37% believe that creating a profile on a social network is a highly effective marketing/advertising method.

eMarketer states that a ‘reliance on word-of-mouth’ – 82% of small businesses believe their new customers come from word-of-mouth – and the low cost of participation have led small businesses to make social media a high priority for their online marketing efforts.

Posted in: Blog, Social Media Statistics

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About the Author

Marissa McNaughton

Marissa was tricked into working for Modern Media by a Facebook message promising her an iPad. She facilitates all things community for Modern Media and The Realtime Report.

When not at work, Marissa can be found surfing, outdoors, or teaching yoga throughout the East End. Previously, she worked in event planning and philanthropy for The Nature Conservancy, and as General Manager of the Hamptons Shakespeare Festival, a grassroots non-profit theater in Montauk.

Marissa grew up on Long Island and now lives in Montauk, NY. She graduated with a BA in English & History from Yale University.

  • http://hagstrommedia.com Erick Hagstrom

    This doesn’t surprise me at all. Social media is very accessible to small business. The problem, though, is that that accessibility makes it prone to misuse. Well, not so much misuse as uninformed use. I see so many small businesses approach Facebook and Twitter as though they were additional advertising platforms. The reality is that social media is the new corner diner or town pub. It represents an opportunity to engage and discuss rather than sell. And that’s what makes it so valuable: you can get your customers to talk to you for absolutely no charge. They’ll tell you what they like and what they don’t, they’ll tell their friends when they get what they like (and when they get what they don’t), and they’ll give you the opportunity to fix things when they go wrong and to do it as publicly as the original complaint. Social media is all about relationships.

  • Tonia Ries

    Erick: you’ve really nailed it in this comment — never before have millions of people posted public information on what they’re doing, where they are and what they want, right now. It’s an incredible opportunity, and companies are only just beginning to figure it out.

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