Survey: Most Small Businesses Don’t Plan to Cut Social Media

by Charles Sipe

While advertising spending may be down for most traditional media, there is one media that is not being cut. According to a survey conducted in December 2008 by Ad-ology Research, 25% of small businesses stated they planned to increase spending on social media and 33% said they would spend the same amount in 2009.

This data suggests that social media will continue to grow in 2009 and we have certainly seen growth in Facebook and Twitter.This also shows the value that people see in social media marketing. Usually it only costs time to interact and build relationships with customers through social media. For instance Zappos has used Twitter to gain the attention of over 31,000 followers. Think of how valuable it is to get 30,000 followers to voluntarily give you their attention and for Zappos, it costs next to nothing to update their Twitter feed. Their marketing messages are sent instantly to interested and engaged consumers, many who receive Twitter messages directly to their mobile devices.

Another useful source for social media marketing is LinkedIn where you can find potential prospects and build relationships. Facebook has many marketing applications from targeted banner ads, to fan groups that empower evangelists to spread their enthusiasm about your product or service.

At time of economic crisis, companies big and small will look for highly efficient and trackable means of marketing their company, and that is likely to mean growth in social media marketing.