Employers recently conducted and published the results of a national social networking and media poll. They discovered that about 7.7 million small businesses (26 percent) say they are likely to use social media channels to find information on workers’ compensation insurance. That is a pretty good adoption rate, given the relative newness of this capability.
Here are some other poll statistics that might be interest, along with a brief comment or two: >> 52 percent believe having a social media presence is important for a company. The real question is, “why?” Is this just because they see others doing it or are business truly beginning to understand the value that social networks can bring to their business.
>> 59 percent of small businesses with social media presence say it has provided value to their business. How do they know this to be true? At some point, we need to collectively define key measures and associated metrics that can be used to compare and contrast business results.
>> 16 percent of all polled have a business account (representing 4,752,000 based on SBA data) Interesting, but not very informative.
>> 49 percent say that their social media presence has produced advocates for their business. Producing business advocates is definitely creating value, but how are they capturing the value that advocates can bring (e.g., new revenue, lower costs of sales, etc.)?
>> 65 percent with a social media presence say they actively use it to promote their businesses. This seems to indicate they are using it as another type of disruptive marketing program. Businesses should realize that having an active socially networked community means being less disruptive and more responsive.
Check out the rest of the article for eight tips they give on using social media channels.
Practical Aspects of Social Media: Art, Science, and Humanity 