More than 8 in 10 SMBs have a social presence on at least one platform, according to study results from The Alternative Board. Respondent companies – 3 in 4 of which are B2B focused – reported spending the most of their social media time with content creation, as they hone in on crafting the right messages for their audiences.
Asked to identify the most important aspect of their social content, SMBs overwhelmingly chose relevance (77%), believing this to be far more crucial then originality, conciseness, or exclusivity.
This can prove challenging, however. Posting content with the right message is considered challenging by 3 times as many SMBs as posting content at the right time (66% and 21%, respectively). Few feel that posting content on the right platform is their biggest content obstacle.
That could be due to SMBs using a fairly limited range of channels. The only platforms in which a majority reported a presence were Facebook and LinkedIn, each by 63% of respondents. Not surprisingly, then, these were considered the most effective in advancing respondents’ strategic goals, with LinkedIn taking precedence over Facebook in this case.
Still, many SMBs are not measuring social’s ROI, a result that isn’t unique to SMBs. Among the 57% who are tracking ROI, the primary metrics used are inbound web inquiries, revenue generated, and lead conversions.
Overall, the SMBs surveyed see some value to social media but aren’t fully convinced: 59% believe that social is nice to have but not essential; while the remaining 41% feel that it is an essential marketing tool.
About the Data: The survey was fielded among 315 SMBs ranging in size from <$500k in revenues to $5 million or more. The professional services (30%) and manufacturing/construction (29%) sectors were the most heavily represented.
