It’s surprising how some local businesses still debate whether or not they need social media as part of their local business marketing plan. It’s a fact: consumers use social media to communicate, connect, conduct business, network, shop, research, and much more; and if you’re not participating, then you risk losing visibility and credibility amongst those very consumers.
Or, you can let the statistics speak for themselves. To summarize the following charts sourced from comScore and Localeze:
- Social networking sites are used nearly 3Xs more today than they were in 2008 for local business searches
- Facebook is used more than any other social networking site for local business research
- More and more consumers are using social media on a regular basis to conduct business research
- 35% of individuals who use social networking sites for local search use it daily to perform research on local businesses
The trend toward using social media for business and business search continues to grow and shows no signs of stopping; which implies that social media cannot be ignored as part of a local business marketing plan. If you don’t have a strong social media platform, then do some research, or hire an Internet Marketing firm or expert, to help you identify a Surefire strategy for your local business so you can start building your online visibility, credibility, and lead generation as soon as possible!
For additional information and statistics on this subject, check out: How Does Facebook Really Help B2C Business… The Results May Surprise You.
Do you have additional stats you’d like to share? We’d love to hear about them below!
For nearly three decades, Chris Marentis, Founder and CEO of Surefire Social, has been responsible for driving innovation and sales growth for large media and e-commerce brands as well as start-ups. With a long-history of counseling local businesses about their marketing efforts, Marentis provides insight on what it takes for small businesses to succeed and thrive in today’s evolving digital environment. His notable career includes creating the foundational blueprints for online marketing, e-commerce and content branding for AOL’s Interactive Marketing group, where he served as Senior Vice President. While CEO of Clearspring Technologies, Marentis developed one of the most widely adopted venture-backed Web 2.0 technology platforms. Marentis is a frequent speaker at local digital marketing conferences and a contributor to SMB and technology-focused publications.
