Social Media Fail: Small Business Owners’ Facebook Struggles

Date: July 16, 2015

New analysis shows lackluster results for small businesses’ social media efforts.

Most business owners today know the importance of maintaining a social media presence. Yet new data show that small businesses are struggling to establish ROI for these efforts, according to Social Media Examiner‘s analysis of multiple social media surveys. 

Fifty-nine percent of small business owners reported that they don’t see ROI from social media, according to an April Manta survey. Of the 41 percent who were successful, 47 percent received less than $100 and 87 percent received less than $1,000. In that survey, Facebook was the platform that delivered the greatest, albeit modest, ROI. 

In a separate Social Media Examiner survey, only 45 percent of the 3,720 people surveyed reported that their marketing efforts were effective in terms of creating returns. 

Equally telling is that almost as many (35 percent) are unsure about the impact of their Facebook presence. The results underscore the difficulty many owners—and marketers themselves—have in quantifying the effectiveness of social media efforts. However, another report cites that owners’ confidence in their ability to measure social media efficacy is increasing over time. 

Social Media Examiner’s analysis also points out that small businesses are hesitant about pouring money into social media, but they are also putting more time into platforms such as Facebook.

Such struggles and contradictions might put owners in a difficult situation, but that’s no reason to abandon the efforts, Social Media Examiner said. “Small businesses must work to simply get a sense of whether their posts and ads are bringing in customers and sales. If they don’t use Facebook Insights or Google Analytics, owners and marketers will never have more than a vague idea of whether Facebook works,” the article said. 

Visit NFIB’s Web Marketing section for more social media resources for your business. 

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