Even with all of the buzz lately about Pinterest and Twitter, a recent survey shows small businesses are sticking with tried and true channels like Facebook, LinkedIn and their company websites to get their brand in front of customers.
Company Websites, Facebook and LinkedIn
The survey was conducted by Rogers Connect Market Research for American Express Small Business Services and polled 529 Canadian small businesses each with 2-100 employees on staff. The result showed that 52 percent relied mainly on their company website for brand awareness.
PC World further broke down the study and found that 35 percent of these small businesses rely heavily on Facebook and 33 percent rely on LinkedIn for branding purposes. The other social media channels didn’t even come close.
Other Social Media Channels
According to PC World, 19 percent of these businesses use Twitter for branding while only 11 percent use Google Plus and 10 percent use blogs or other online forums. The numbers of businesses using Pinterest and Instagram for branding were even smaller.
More Traditional Approaches
The study concluded that while businesses understand the importance of digital media many of them still rely on more traditional methods for creating brand awareness. In an official statement from American Express they further surmised that 60 percent of respondents rely on employee word-of-mouth to communicate their brand to customers with over half of them believing it is an effective means for getting their brand noticed. Thirty-two percent of small business owners also use events to help raise brand awareness.
Reference
Sophy, Joshua. “Survey: Small Businesses Rely on Website, Facebook, LinkedIn for Branding”. Smallbiztrends.com. 8/1/2013.
