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[dropcap2]A[/dropcap2]ccording to a recent survey, most small businesses feel that using social media is not necessary or beneficial for their companies.

Hiscox, a specialty insurer headquartered in Bermuda, recently polled over 300 small business owners, partners, and decision makers in late May 2011.  These people all were from US companies with less than 250 employees and the results were very interesting.  Their survey showed that 47% of small business leaders said that they did not use social media for business purposes.  Of those that did utilize social media, 19% use Facebook, 15% use LinkedIn, and only 4% use Twitter.

Of those business leaders who use social media, they were also asked what the most important aspect of social media they used to grow their business.  28% stated that they created a Facebook fanpage.  18% said that they created a company page or company group on LinkedIn, and just 8% said that a blog helped them grow the most.

When asked how they felt about using social media for their business, only 12% of the responders said that it was “a must” and 14% said that they didn’t know enough about it.

But when they were asked what was the one marketing tool that they couldn’t do without, half of the small business owners responded with word-of-mouth advertising, and only 4% said social media or blogging.

This data is extremely eye-opening and it begs the question: Given today’s world of instant access and instant notification, why wouldn’t a small business owner want to take advantage of the free or low-cost advertising and marketing that comes from using social media?  I think the answer is that most small business owners fall into that 14% who say that they don’t know enough about it.  They’re used to traditional marketing and advertising methods, and the “new-fangled” methods like Facebook, Twitter, and the like, frighten them and cause them to back away.  I think it’s all because of a lack of knowledge and information on the methods.

At 140ology, we routinely deal with like-minded small business owners.  They want to grow and expand their business, but they are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with using social networks like Facebook and Twitter to do it.  By using examples of clients who were similar in nature, we are able to show them how they and their business can truly benefit from having an active online presence.  We can do the same for you and your business.  Want to learn more?  Contact us for an initial consultation.