About 80 percent of small business owners use Facebook for marketing, according to a recent study. That makes the iconic social media platform the most popular tool for small business marketers in the digital world and beyond. It’s more popular than other social channels like Twitter and LinkedIn, online advertising networks like AdWords, and traditional advertising methods like newspapers and radio.
The study comes from marketing services provider G2 Crowd. The company surveyed small business owners and managers from companies with 250 employees or less. It also found that 24 percent plan to prioritize investments toward marketing and advertising this year. So many business owners plan to prioritize marketing over other areas like hiring sales staff or investing in new software.
Top Social Media Sites for Marketing
After Facebook, Twitter was named as the most popular marketing channel for small businesses, followed by LinkedIn and Instagram. One of the big reasons why small businesses might be gravitating toward these platforms is that they’re free to use. And even paid advertising options can be inexpensive and easy for small business owners to stick with. However, it’s likely that a lot of small business owners using those platforms are sticking to just the free options like setting up their own Facebook pages and sending out promotional tweets.
But some small businesses are also sticking with social platforms like Facebook simply because they’re seeing success there. Thirty eight percent of survey respondents said that Facebook is their most successful marketing channel. So it’s definitely possible for businesses to take advantage of low or no cost options to boost their marketing efforts.
However, these results also highlight the need for small businesses to really set themselves apart on Facebook and similar platforms. Since the vast majority of small businesses are already using Facebook for marketing, it’s not enough to simply set up a page and wait for customers to gravitate to it. You need to be active and find unique ways to use the platform so you don’t just fade into the background with your competitors.
Facebook Photo via Shutterstock
Aira Bongco
I think that Facebook is the obvious choice. Most people are on there. So it is only right that they are there as well. You need to put your product in front of your target market after all.
Annie Pilon
Yes, absolutely
Facebook is not the social media site with the highest traffic for nothing. It is obvious that business owners would want a slice of that traffic at least.
Annie Pilon
I totally agree
Some social media websites will definitely work better for your niche more than others. It is about finding that site where most of your niche hangs out or where you can get better conversions.
Annie Pilon
For sure – Facebook is the most popular, but that doesn’t mean it’s the ONLY choice
Vishwajeet Kumar
Facebook have tremendous opportunity for marketers. It is now become one of the best and effective advertising solutions. Thanks for sharing this awesome post.
Abiodun Babalola
Facebook works well in many areas because of her partnership with large data organisation to provide customer insight you may not really have access to with other social media which give advertisers leverage to narrow their targeted audience.