According to a recent survey by salespider.com, about 75{a1e4dbad5b5db674abcd08880e44cddfd507140ecbeb8646296ad08a1acb49a4} of small businesses are planning to use social media in 2011. Which begs the question, “Why?”
I did an informal survey with small business owners and leaders to find out why they are using or planning to use social media this year. Here are the top reasons they gave:
1. Increase awareness of our company and brand
2. Connect with a wider audience and find new customers
3. Increase traffic to our website
4. Increase our website’s search engine ranking
5. Let people know about a new promotion or a new product
6. Everyone else is doing it, so we need to do it, too.
Based on my personal research and scouring of the world wide web, the following are some of the additional reasons cited as goals and objectives for businesses to use social media:
1. Own our brand’s digital presence
2. Show our target market that we are current with the times
3. Want to provide valuable information about our industry
4. Monitor trends
5. Get feedback about our brand, products and services
6. Use social media for customer service
What are some of the reasons that you are using social media for your business?