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Many Business Professionals Believe Their Companies Under-Utilize Social Media
The latest Re:NEW Michigan social media survey found that small businesses in Michigan are still trying to establish how to utilize social media within their organizations, but it is not a high priority as they feel use of social media takes too much time and is hard to learn. This resembles the nationwide trend (by LinkedIn) as small businesses seem to think social media has value but struggle to properly use the channels to engage or connect with stakeholders. Re:NEW Michigan is a brand of Eiler Communications and has conducted twelve social media surveys - two a year since 2008. The next Re: NEW Michigan social media survey is scheduled for this Fall.
Despite the under-utilization, 77 percent of the respondents indicated their business use Facebook while 83 percent use LinkedIn for marketing purposes. This matches the nationwide trend for small and medium sized businesses as a recent LinkedIn study revealed. The study found the 94 percent of the 998 businesses surveyed used social media for marketing purposes.
The same two have led all sites in Re:NEW usage surveys since 2012. Facebook and LinkedIn remained the top two social sites selected as most-used by survey respondents. Newer sites like Pinterest and Vine were not utilized at all by the respondents. In terms of personal use, once again Facebook and LinkedIn ranked the highest for the group.
The benefits of using social media expressed by those who participated in the survey reflected common thought about why social media is beneficial for businesses. Social networks allow businesses to reach their audience quickly and inexpensively while engaging in real time feedback and conversation. It also supports or augments the current strategy for creating a brand image or identity.
Despite the praise and hype for social media, there are drawbacks or disadvantages that businesses experience. One of the biggest drawbacks expressed by respondents was the amount of time or more work that social media sites required. Social sites require constant attention, especially for businesses. This thought was taken a step further by one respondent who said that the, "expectation of those you are contacting to respond immediately and engage frequently" was a large drawback to social networks. Stakeholders expect and demand that businesses that use social sites should respond or interact immediately due to the nature of these sites.
The results of the survey align with other surveys conducted on small businesses and social media. Businesses are adopting the practice but are still struggling to maintain and consistently engage on the sites. That being said, all the respondents' companies were using social media to some extent, depending largely on whether they had people dedicated to checking social site regularly, or did not.
Other businesses use social media as sources for news and information as well as marketing to reach customers directly.
Social media are checked 1-6 times per day by about 75 percent of respondents.
The number of respondents who get the most of their information from social media, BlogSpot sites and Electronic news online (CNN, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal and TheNew York Times) continue to surpass print publications, TV and radio.
We are sure to see new social media platforms emerge, some current ones disappear, and social media trends begin to take off. Below are some of the new trends and changes we can expect to see in 2014.
Images will beat out words for engagement
Many experts in the field of social media and marketing see the growth and potential of images. Social platforms such as Integra and Interest will continue to be key for marketing and dialoging with consumers. Other imaging sites like Slide share; Tumbler, and Path have seen success in 2013 and will continue to emerge as key channels for companies to reach their target audiences. A picture is worth 1,000 words. See article by Kristie Wong on Infographics in this issue.
Searching
Many are familiar with the term Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and you can expect to be more familiar with it in 2014. SEO will be driven by content and as we all heard in 2013, content is king. We could write numerous articles on what content-driven SEO means but to put it simply: think in terms of topics, not just key words.
Another interesting prediction for 2014; #hash tag searching. Will it happen? It remains to be seen in #2014.
Mobile, Mobile, Mobile
Mobile marketing and advertising are some of the most talked about topics today in the marketing, public relations, and advertising fields. Many experts predict digital marketing (i.e., mobile phone, tablet) to surpass traditional marketing budget. As for advertising; it's gone native. Native advertising has "happened" already but expect it to make a bigger splash in 2014.
Growth for some, disappearance for others
Though Google+ is not the size of Facebook and Twitter, it is growing rapidly. At the end of October 2013, Google+ registered 540 million monthly active users and its growth does not appear to be slowing down. On the other hand, the location-based app, Foursquare, has been experienced trouble throughout the last year or so as other social media giants such as Facebook offering the option to "check-in" or notify others of your location. Some experts expect Foursquare to not be on the map by 2014's end, despite its recent roll-out of passive notifications. Its sustainability remains to be seen.
For more insight and other predicted trends of 2014, please visit these additional sources
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Larry Eiler
Katie Joly
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