MAY 3, 2011, 2:35 PM ET
By Sarah E. Needleman
About seven in 10 small-business owners say they “strongly agree” that social media is important to their business, recently released data show. But they prefer to use some social platforms far more than others.
The most popular is Facebook, followed closely by Twitter and LinkedIn, according to a report from SocialMediaExaminer.com, a free online magazine on how businesses use social media. The findings are based on a survey of 2,573 owners with 100 employees or less.
Blogs and video sites like YouTube ranked in the middle while MySpace scored the lowest, with Groupon just one notch above.
Michael Stelzner, founder of SocialMediaExaminer and author of the report, says MySpace landed at the bottom because it’s lost its appeal among consumers. But Groupon did poorly mainly just due to the fact that it offers a service most applicable to retailers as opposed to service providers.
Meanwhile, Mr. Stelzner expects LinkedIn to grow in popularity among small-business owners this year, as the site has added a number of new features for sharing and promoting links to third-party content, such as news articles.
Small businesses place great value on social media in general, according to Mr. Stelzner. “They’ve always been the torch bearer for social media and our study shows they’re benefiting the most,” he says. “Big businesses can’t move quickly enough to keep up with it. Social media provides an opportunity for small, nimble businesses to get a leg up over their large competitors.”
Readers, what’s your favorite social-media outlet and why?
Follow Sarah E. Needleman on Twitter @sarahneedleman.
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