One in five smallfirms may choose not to invest in social media this year
Less than 60 per cent of Britain’s small businesses use social media, despite 30 per cent of users claiming that supporting their favourite brands on social media was important.
Examiningoffice of National Statistics (ONS) data on social media use amongst small UK firms last year, research from company formations specialists Turnerlittle has revealed why social media use will become even more important for brands in 2018.
Compared with businesses with more than 1, 000 employees, of which 90.3 per cent use social media, use amongst Britain’s small companies remains frustratingly low.
Whilst less than 60 per cent use social media at all, even fewer small businesses choose to link or reference their social media pages on company sites online, as only 50 per cent do so.
Meanwhile, the data showed that as many as one in five small businesses will choose not to invest in social media in 2018.
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Stefano Maruzzi, GoDaddy’s vice president for the EMEA region and Business Advice’s social media expert, warned of the dangers for small firms of failing to invest in social media use.
He said: With user engagement increasing on an increasingly wide variety of social platforms, paying attention to social media should be compulsory for any modern business.
Whilst social media use amongst small firms is low compared with larger companies, an even lower proportion run an online blog.
Despite blogs having been proven to bring a range of benefits to young brands, only 39 per cent of small firms currently run one. Indeed, while just 12.9 per cent of owners at UK company of any size chose to launch their own blog last year.
Despite these statistics, Turnerlittle discovered that most businesses, across various sectors, used social media to some extent. Some 23 per cent of owners claimed they had used social media to develop the business image? or market their products, while a similar number said social media had helped them obtain or respond to customers? opinions, reviews and questions.
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