Small businesses are either unsure or too busy to fully capitalise on the potential of social media, an industry analyst says, after it was revealed only 27% of SMEs are utilising social media.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This figure comes from a report published by Yellow Pages in partnership with the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The report is based on a survey of 1,951 Australian SMEs regarding their usage of social media marketing. The survey reveals only 27% of small businesses and 34% of medium businesses have a social media presence.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But other research highlights the widespread use of social media among the general public.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to social media analytics firm Socialbakers, nearly 55% of the Australian population uses Facebook. That equates to 11.8 million people.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Of those 11.8 million people, the average person spends a staggering six hours per week on Facebook alone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s clear that social media has enormous potential when it comes to marketing,\u201d says Matt Thomson, co-founder of social media marketing firm Connect Social Media.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is, most small business owners are unsure and too busy to fully capitalise on social media\u2019s potential.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe average small business owner is simply too busy running their business to focus on keeping up with their Facebook page.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAnd for the ones that do spend time on social media, they are often overwhelmed with where to start.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But Thomson says small business owners need to rethink their approach to social media or risk losing out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSocial media marketing is a burgeoning industry filled with nuances and best practices that seemingly change on a daily basis,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI am a small business owner myself so I know firsthand the struggles of balancing day-to-day activities with my marketing efforts.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThere are plenty of social media pros out there that promise results.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thomson\u2019s comments come after fashion retailer Just Jeans was forced to apologise to its customers after a Facebook user posing as a company spokesperson posted offensive comments on the retailer\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Over a 12-hour period, a number of customers unwittingly engaged in discussions with the fake Just Jeans account on the official page.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Michael Simonetti, founder and managing director of digital agency AndMine, told SmartCompany<\/em> yesterday businesses need to keep a close eye on any social media they use.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a hard one for businesses to monitor, especially overnight, but it is their responsibility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Small businesses are either unsure or too busy to fully capitalise on the potential of social media, an industry analyst<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45817"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}