{"id":383,"date":"2012-10-30T16:58:49","date_gmt":"2012-10-30T16:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/?p=383"},"modified":"2012-10-30T16:58:49","modified_gmt":"2012-10-30T16:58:49","slug":"where-is-your-small-business-on-the-social-media-path-to-influence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/where-is-your-small-business-on-the-social-media-path-to-influence\/","title":{"rendered":"Where is your small business on the social media path to influence?"},"content":{"rendered":"
In our \u201cBig Trends for Small Business<\/a>,\u201d which we hope you\u2019ve had a chance to read, we point out that among the top trends impacting small business social media is not going away. A recent study<\/a> of 400 decision makers at small and medium sized businesses conducted by Duct Tape Marketing<\/a> and Vocus,<\/a> a provider of cloud based marketing software, suggests that most of you agree.<\/p>\n Of the survey, entitled \u201c Path to Influence: An Industry Study of SMBs and Social Media,\u201d John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing founder, blogs<\/a>: \u00a0\u201cThe study reinforced something that I\u2019ve been noticing more and more, that there\u2019s finally this acceptance that social media<\/strong> not only isn\u2019t going away<\/strong>. It\u2019s an essential element of the marketing mix and the real challenge now is to figure out how to integrate it into the total online and offline marketing presence.\u201d<\/p>\n Survey overview<\/strong><\/p>\n Specifically, the survey points out small and medium-sized businesses are finding social media platforms helpful and are measuring their progress by focusing on business outcomes.<\/p>\n Despite the growing acceptance of social media, small and medium sized businesses are divided in their view of online influence, the survey concludes.\u00a0 Among respondents, 40 percent prefer a smaller but highly engaged audience, while 27 percent prefer a huge following with little engagement. Ironically, the 27 percent that prefer a large following are also more likely to report social media has been very helpful to their efforts.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Of the challenges small business face in dealing with social media, respondents expressed the following themes:<\/p>\n Path to Influence: An Industry Study of SMBs and Social Media<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Top activities for social media<\/strong><\/p>\n Of the social media platforms, Facebook was cited as the most often used. LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube also got high rankings, with Google + coming in fifth but where small businesses plan to make more of an investment next year.<\/p>\n Regarding the use of social media platforms, the activities break down as follows:<\/p>\n\n
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