If you’re a small business (fewer than 100 employees), congratulations on your greater sociability. Research firm BIA/Kelsey has recently revealed that 74.5% of small and medium-size businesses use social media to promote their business. This figure has edged up from last year’s total of 71.7%. When it comes to the spending pie, the small biz sector slices off 21.4% of their media budgets for social media. Last year’s slice was 18.9%.
BIA/Kelsey further reports what brand marketers already know – social media has shown a major upswing in the last few years. However, what some of us may not have realized, is that sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are grabbing the biggest budgetary share in all categories. For the first time ever, social media is now top dog in terms of both reach and spend. As things stand now, small and medium-sized businesses currently use social media more than any other media channel.
Of course, if social media has emerged the big winner, something has to be the loser. In the brand marketing world, that dubious distinction goes to – not surprisingly – print and outdoor advertising. This year, small and medium-sized businesses have used those two channels a combined total of 53%. That’s a dip from last year’s figure of 63%. Furthermore, these businesses spent 18.5% of their media budgets on print and outdoor, dropping from 20.9% the previous year.
Even though more media bucks are being channeled into the likes of Facebook and Twitter, only 26.2% of small and medium-size businesses give social media an excellent rating when it comes to ROI. The winners in the ROI department currently are as follows:
- Online banner or display ads containing video
- Streaming audio advertising
- Offers distributed on mobile devices
It remains to be seen if social media will eventually match its other strides when it comes to ROI.
If you have any questions or comments about using social media for your brand marketing, or about any brand-related topic, feel free to send them our way.
You can connect with the Young Company team at 949-376-8404 #4033 or bart@youngcompany.com. Also, be sure to follow us for the latest brand marketing news and tips.