Small Business Owners Are Passive In Social Media

Very interesting to read Media Post.com’s article that small business owners “show a strong preference for “passive” social media sources of business instead of actively engaging online.

In the article Ben Hanna notes that, according to the Business.com study of over 1,700 small business owners/managers, they “currently use one or more social media resources to help them get the information they need to do their jobs on a day-to-day basis.”

The top five social media resources among study participants were:

1. Webinars / Podcasts

2. Ratings & Reviews

3. Company / Brand Pages on Social Networking Sites (Facebook etc)

4. Company Blogs

5. Social Media Search (for business-relevant information directly on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Business.com Answers, SlideShare and many more.)

I would presume that many small business owners don’t yet understand the value of interactivity and haven’t integrated social media into their business. Two major factors that seems to be a constant with small business is the lack of time and resources available to actually put social media to use. Even if they knew how to use it, would they have the time to maintain it?

The article states that social media for business is less about “socializing” and more about finding answers to what they need. Absolutely!

As small businesses learn the value of connecting and creating a relationship with their clients and prospects in their online community, I’m certain the “passive” connectors will transition to “active”.

Though I have to wonder if small business owners aren’t already busy enough with the work they do? So many business owners I connect with are constantly working IN their business, and have to schedule time to work ON their business. Adding another element of marketing into the mix is undoubtedly valuable, the question is – where will they find the time?