Despite the importance attributed to it by internet marketing experts, many internet business owners are still not fully committed to putting much in the way of resources into implementing social media as an integral part of their search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy.

But, data supplied by e-mail marketing company Constant Contact from a recent survey shows that things are changing and that more and more business owners are beginning to recognise the fact that social media should start playing a more prominent role in their internet marketing strategies.

Social Media Numbers On The Rise

The numbers from Constant Contact’s survey show a sizable increase in small business owners’ interest in the use of social media to boost their online marketing efforts.

Let’s take a look at those numbers, resulting from a survey of 1,500 small business owners:

  • 63 percent stated that Facebook was a major factor in their marketing efforts during the autumn. That number is up from the previous survey conducted during Spring, when 50.5 percent responded similarly.
  • 30 percent of the same respondents said Twitter was their main focus among social media platforms during the same period. Again, that number is up from the previous survey conducted during Spring, when 26.5 percent responded similarly.

Digital Marketing Numbers Generally On The Rise

Social media numbers are obviously on the rise, but numbers for other forms of digital marketing were also shown to be on the rise, according to the same autumn Constant Contact survey.

The increases in other, more traditional forms of small business marketing, i.e. event marketing, online surveys and email marketing, were more modest, but still on the up, whereas other non-digital, less cyber-centric forms of marketing (in-person interactions, direct mail and telephone conversations) showed modest declines.

While face-to-face contact still plays a major role in the day-to-day operations of most small businesses, interaction via the internet, social media and other forms of digital media is becoming the preferred method of communication for many business owners due in large part to its immediacy. To illustrate the point, 62 percent of small business owners responding to the survey claimed that having a presence on Facebook is just as important to their businesses as dealing with consumers face-to-face.

Inter-personal communications will always play a vital role in how small business owners conduct business, but it’s mainly a change in the medium via which the communications are being conducted that is being seen, especially in the rapidly increasing use of social media, Facebook in particular.

This survey shows that making sure your internet business has a social media presence, particularly where Facebook is concerned, is of vital importance for your business’s future success.

If you’re still on the fence where social media are concerned, a UK internet business coach can go over the benefits of establishing a presence for your business on the social media networks, and can work with you to take full advantage of the marketing power of Facebook and the other social networks.

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