27% of Small Businesses Using Facebook

Network Solutions recently released its 2010 State of Small Business report and it has lots of interesting information, including data on social media usage by small businesses.

As the chart below (chart 14 from the report) shows, Facebook is used by 27% of small businesses for business purposes.  That's up from 17% just last June. 

     
This is stunning growth and another data point suggesting Facebook is taking over the web. 

The chart also shows strong growth in the use of LinkedIn, with Twitter and blogs showing solid but less spectacular usage increases. 

You may wonder why this survey shows lower social media usage than other surveys.  The answer is survey methodology. 

Most small business social media surveys use online surveys and don't attempt to create samples that statistically represent the entire small business sector.  Instead, these surveys are trying to gauge usage of online small businesses or active online small businesses - not the entire sector. 

This isn't wrong or bad, but can misleading if you're interested in the entire small business sector.

The State of Small Business survey uses phone interviews and samples in a manner that insures the survey respondents are representative of the entire U.S. small business sector.  Because of this, their results are much more likely to accurately capture what is happening across a the entire small business segment of the U.S. economy. 

We'll be posting on other interesting results from the Network Solutions 2010 State of Small Business report over the next few weeks.

Comments

[Nan Ross]

Thanks for the post! Social media has giving small businesses the opportunity to become more optimistic of the economy and their marketing efforts. A technology vehicle that is so affordable that it has made an huge impact on word of marketing and an increase in profitability.

[Newyork City Personal Injury Lawyers]

face book is the best way to promote your business and the best thing is that its free of cost and top social networking site

[Seattle Retirement Communities]

Linked in and Facebook is my choice.

[ABC Buses]

Even with lower social media usage than other surveys, 27% is impressive. That's facebook alone! There are many other social media platforms out there, I wonder what the percentage is of small businesses that use ANY social media platform?

[Joe Smith]

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[houston personal attorney]

The State of Small Business survey uses phone interviews and samples in a manner that insures the survey respondents are representative of the entire U.S. small business sector. Because of this, their results are much more likely to accurately capture what is happening across a the entire small business segment of the U.S. economy.

[Making Money From Home]

If you're just starting a business, it's a good idea to use social networking sites like Facebook. This would really affect your business positively.