The University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business worked on the relationship between social media and small businesses and concluded that the technology adoption rates in the U.S. have doubled in the past year from 12% to 24%. Based on December 2009 telephone survey of 500 small business owners and the University’s third installment to its small business success index report, the data was deduced. Comparison was done between adoption rate and baseline report conducted in December 2008.
Study Reports
- According to the study reports, around one in five small business owners have integrated social media into their business. The most popular sites were Facebook and LinkedIn.
- According to the belief of 45 percent of surveyed respondents, social media initiatives will pay off financially within 12 months or less.
How to use social media for small business
- One should have a company page on a social networking site like facebook or linkedln.
- One should update Post status updates or articles of interest on social networking sites.
- One has to build network through sites like Linkedln.
- One has to monitor positive or negative feedback about their organization on these sites.
- One has to have a blog on their areas of expertise.
- One has to tweet about in their areas of expertise.
- One can also use Twitter as a customer service channel.