While small businesses use social media personally and believe it affects their businesses, the majority are still reluctant to use the new networks to build their companies. Additionally, most don’t plan on investing on social media until they understand the practices and payoffs. That’s the headline finding in a new study recently released by the collaboration of SocialStrategy1 and OfficeArrow.
73% of the small business owners surveyed said they access social networks on smartphones or other mobile devices, yet 67% are holding back investing online, mostly because they feel overwhelmed by social media or hasn’t realized its full potential. Spesifically, 51% fear sharing sensitive information, 50% say there’s too much of social media to manage, while others think it’s too costly.
Among the 41% of small businesses taking any social media action, the focus is solidly on increasing brand awareness. However, 60% say they do want to use social media as an information source; they just don’t know how.
If small businesses want to use social media in an effective manner, they should start treating it as a platform for listening, not talking.
Also, they need to emphasize customer service. Remember, it’s possible to do more for less through online customer service. Learn what people like and dislike about your company, pinpoint the key dissatisfactions, and consider ways to automate tasks for customers.
