Despite social media’s complete market saturation, a majority of small businesses just can’t figure out how to get the ball rolling with their own social marketing—and are failing to attract new customers as a result.
This is the key finding of new research from digital marketing technology firm Netsertive, which helps brands and their local retailers attract more customers through turnkey campaigns. The firm recently announced recent findings from a survey about the local marketing habits of 250 small businesses across the United States.
Key findings:
Most small businesses lack a social media marketing strategy
Nearly half (49 percent) of survey respondents don’t have a formal social media marketing strategy in place. Furthermore, these marketers’ ability to execute social media campaigns is falling short, as only 26 percent claim to have “advanced” knowledge of social media marketing while 24 percent call themselves “novice” and 30 percent say they’re “intermediate.”
Small businesses are still struggling to attract customers with social media marketing
42 percent of respondents believe Facebook is the best social channel for driving sales; however, the same number of respondents (42 percent) aren’t able to tie their social media marketing efforts directly to in-store traffic. Only nine percent of small businesses say Twitter is valuable to their business, followed by only six percent for Instagram.
Small businesses lag behind their customers in adoption of Instagram
As America’s most popular social networking platform, offering marketers an array of local targeting options, it’s no surprise that Facebook is the favorite social marketing channel among small businesses (64 percent). Instagram is also emerging as a key marketing tool, as 60 percent of its users say they discovered new products on the platform. Unfortunately, small businesses have been slow to catch on to its value. Only one-third of small businesses are currently using Instagram (33 percent).
“With Netsertive’s help, we’ve recently added social media to our local marketing efforts and can already see the profound impact Facebook is having on our store,” said Elizabeth Ingraldi of Hampton Major Appliance of Garden City, NY, a Netsertive client, in a news release. “We now have a more holistic digital approach, with increased online visibility that’s not only engaging our social media followers, but allowing us to drive customers into our store.”
“Social media is constantly evolving, and we understand the challenges both brands and small businesses face when it comes to leveraging these mediums to drive online audiences to brick-and-mortar locations,” said Brendan Morrissey, CEO and co-founder of Netsertive. “At Netsertive, we’re committed to helping small businesses navigate these channels by connecting them with their brands to facilitate streamlined co-op marketing campaigns with consistent and engaging touchpoints along the entire path to purchase.”
Using Google Consumer Surveys, Netsertive surveyed 250 small businesses on their challenges with social media marketing the week prior to Small Business Week, which occurs from April 30 to May 6, 2017. All respondents were located in the continental United States.
