Ad-ology’s study of 1100 small business owners, Small Business Marketing Forecast, shows that 50 % of small businesses think that lead generation is the biggest benefit of social networking.
Percentage of how useful the most popular benefits were perceived:
50 %: Generating leads
45 %: Keeping up with the industry
44 %: Monitoring online conversation
38 %: Finding vendors/suppliers
Even though 67 % stated that social media is a good way to increase business, 39 % of those surveyed said they did not plan to use social networking in their marketing plan in 2010. Why? Well, I guess it’s quite common to think that our customers aren’t computer savvy, not online and have no clue when it comes to social media. But is it really so? I think it’s time to stop thinking that our target groups are on a caveman level. It’s neither fair nor true.
/ylva.