Small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) massively use social media as a digital marketing tactic. But at Scoop.it we wanted to understand: how do they use social media? What are their key opportunities? We surveyed more than 3,000 SMBs over several months - inside and outside the Scoop.it user base. We asked questions, collected behavioral data and discovered intriguingfindings which we plan to release in several parts. The first lesson we learned is that LinkedIn Company Pages seem to be a major opportunity not yet leveraged by many SMBs. Though LinkedIn is THE business social network, SMBs still don't see their future on LinkedIn yet. They don't seem to have the time, the content or the analytics tools they need to take advantage of LinkedIn Company Pages as an important marketing opportunity. Here are details on why and how to help them fix that.

1. LinkedIn Company Pages:
the untapped opportunity for SMBs
Data & survey results of
SMB’s social media usage in the US
Aug. - Nov. 2013

2. We know SMBs massively use social media.
But we wanted to know
how.
So we surveyed more
than 3,000 SMBs over
several months:





Among Scoop.it users
Outside of Scoop.it user base
We asked questions
We collected behavioral data
We cross-checked with our own
data (for Scoop.it users)

3. SMBs want leads, traffic and brand awareness
What are the goals of your social media presence?
Develop my company's brand.
59%
Generate business sales leads.
58%
Drive traffic to my Web site.
57%
Show thought leadership.
Recruit new employees.
37%
29%

4. Which should be a perfect match with LinkedIn
+50%
People are 50% more likely to purchase from a
company they interact with on LinkedIn.
(source: LinkedIn)

5. But even though LinkedIn is !
the business social network…
10%
10%
22%
58%
Which social media will be the most valuable for your company in the next 12 months?

6. But even though LinkedIn is !
the business social network…
10%
10%
22%
58%
Which social media will be the most valuable for your company in the next 12 months?
…SMBs see their future on Facebook and Twitter

7. Why?

8. Most SMBs already are actually on LinkedIn
Share of SMBs with an existing
LinkedIn company page
61%
have a
LinkedIn
Company
page

9. But as their company pages are created for them
automatically, few actually know about that.
Share of SMBs with an existing
LinkedIn company page
Does your company have the following
social media presence?
38%
61%
have a
LinkedIn
Company
page
75%
50%
36%
Facebook page
Twitter account
LinkedIn company Google+ company
page
page

10. SMBs confess they don’t update their !
LinkedIn company pages enough
% of SMBs with a presence on that social network
who says they update daily or weekly
66%
54%
37%
Facebook page
37%
Twitter account
Google+ company LinkedIn company
page
page
?

11. But it’s even worse than they think
% of SMBs with a presence on that social network
who says they update daily or weekly
18%
effectively update
daily or weekly
66%
54%
37%
Facebook page
37%
Twitter account
Google+ company LinkedIn company
page
page

12. Much worse
% of SMBs with a presence on that social network
who says they update daily or weekly
18%
effectively update
daily or weekly
66%
97
54%
37%
Facebook page
37%
Twitter account
Google+ company LinkedIn company
page
page
days on average
since last update
on LinkedIn

13. Even though they see the value of updating their
company pages often
What’s preventing you from updating your LinkedIn page more often?
33%
don’t see the value
67%
have other reasons

14. SMBs who publish lack time or impacting content to
publish
What's preventing you from updating your LinkedIn Company page more often?
I can't measure the impact.
42%
I don't have enough content to publish.
41%
37%
I don't have time.
It's not supported by my social media tools.
I don't have the skills internally.
25%
20%

15. So they stick to mostly posting about themselves
What type of content do you publish on your LinkedIn company page?
74%
I publish product/company updates.
63%
I publish sales promotions.
I publish industry news.
53%
I share my vision of the market through thought
leadership pieces.
53%
I post job openings.
46%

16. And break the 4-1-1 rule for high engagement
4
1
Other people’s
content
Re-sharing
from others
1
Self -serving
“For every 1 self-serving post, you shall reshare 1
relevant post and share 4 pieces of relevant content
written by others.”
(Joe Pulizzi – Content Marketing Institute)

17. Help!

18. Publishing by curation can help
“I don’t have enough content to publish”
Complement your own content with relevant curated
pieces

19. Publishing by curation can help
“I don’t have time”
Leverage content curation tools to automate content
sourcing

20. Publishing by curation can help
“I can’t measure the impact”
Use social analytics to easily measure engagement
and content impact.

21. How Scoop.it works:
Save time sourcing content
Get fresh, relevant content easily.
Our semantic algorithm crawls 10M+ Web pages/day so you don’t have to.
1
Discover

22. Make it yours
Edit your content.
Enrich it with your insight.
Publish it in 1-click.
2
Enrich
1
Discover

23. Be discovered everywhere
3
Share
2
Enrich
1
Discover
All your online presence:
- Your Web sites
- Your social networks
- Your blogs
- Your newsletters
+Your Scoop.it content
site

24. And today…

25. And today…

26. Scoop.it integrates LinkedIn company pages
3
Share
2
Enrich
1
Discover
Profiles
Groups
New
Company Pages

27. Content curation helps
18%
effectively update
daily or weekly
97
days on average
since last update
on LinkedIn

28. Content curation helps
Scoop.it users publish 19 posts / month on
average to their social networks

29. Content curation helps
Integrated content & social analytics

30. Get started today
Sign up for free at http://scoop.it
Connect your LinkedIn company page at
http://www.scoop.it/share/configuration