Surprising study!
According to a Regus report that came out in mid-July studying 15,000 businesses worldwide, SMEs reap more benefits from social networking than big businesses do: 44% of SMEs acquired new customers through social networking versus 28% of large businesses.
Even though a lot of businesses have been dragging their feet when it comes to using social networking as one of their marketing channels, more than 700,000 SMEs now have at least a fan page on Facebook.
And the return on investment is such that 28% of SMEs are putting a certain percent of their marketing budget into social media.
Mark Dixon, Regus CEO states: "Our global survey has revealed that social networking has finally become an effective business tool, and SMEs are leading the way in this. Whilst the most popular function of these networks remains that of keeping in touch with contacts, small businesses are also successfully acquiring new customers, supporting their retention efforts and interacting with customer groups. This survey indicates that organisations who have not yet ventured into the world of social networking may be missing a sizeable business opportunity."I couldn't have said it better, even if, empirically, I'm not sure that that these figures are proportionately accurate.
Be that as it may, I still recommend that Oxatis customers, and SMEs in general, jump on the social media bandwagon, at least for a first round of observation.
