Small businesses make the US economy tick. They create six out of every ten new jobs, and pumped about $3 trillion into the economy last year. If you’re a small business owner, you should stand tall and proud knowing this. But leading a small business isn’t always green pastures. Risk and uncertainty are present at every turn, and each decision you make can impact your company’s bottom line. LinkedIn wants to help take your business to the next level this year, so we conducted a study to investigate how small businesses are using social media, and whether it’s worth the investment. Here are some highlights of what we found. Learn how to put LinkedIn to work for your small business. Visit us at http://smallbusiness.linkedin.com.

1. THE YEAR OF THE
SOCIAL SMALL BUSINESS
How small businesses are making things happen on social media
SMALL BUSINESSES ARE
DRIVING THE ECONOMY
They’re job creators
Small businesses create 6 out of every 10 new jobs
and money makers
North American
small businesses contributed
$3 trillion in revenue
last year
$3 trillion
AND, TO HELP POWER THEIR
SUCCESS, THEY’RE GETTING SOCIAL
Most small businesses are using social media ...
9 in 10 SMBs use or plan to use social media
making
plans
... and, they’re using
it more every day.
More than half of SMBs
have increased spend on social media
compared to the prior year; higher than
that of any other marketing channel,
including email marketing and events
Why? It solves for their
top business challenge
94%
Nearly 2 in 3 SMBs state
their #1 challenge is
attracting new customers
of SMBs leverage social media
for marketing
!
61
%
find that social media solves the problem
by helping to gain new customers
But social isn’t just for marketing, it’s also for learning
49
%
Small businesses use social to
learn for several key reasons
Access to a network
of peers to ask questions
or get recommendations
of SMBs use
social media for learning
Learn from experts
in their industry
Obtain learnings,
insights, or best practices
Find information
and opinions
to answer their questions
WHEN IT COMES TO
HYPER-GROWTH COMPANIES,
SOCIAL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
They invest in social more than any other channel
% of hyper-growth companies that have increased spend in a marketing channel
73%
72%
Social media
and social ads
Email
marketing
59%
Events
57%
47%
Online ads
Offline ads
and, they find social to be very effective
in achieving their marketing goals
% reporting that social media is effective for
Branding
Word-of-mouth
Content marketing
Lead gen
90%
88%
89%
82%
LINKEDIN ENABLES SMALL
BUSINESSES TO ATTRACT AND
ENGAGE CUSTOMERS AT SCALE
Credibility
3 in 4 agree LinkedIn allows
them to build credibility
Connection
Nearly 2 in 3 agree LinkedIn
allows them to connect and
generate leads with potential
new customers
Context
Over 2 in 3 agree LinkedIn provides
a relevant context to promote and
advertise their company
Community
Nearly 2 in 3 agree LinkedIn provides
access to a broader community of
other companies to seek opinions
and recommendations
Learn how to get the most out of LinkedIn for your small business.
Visit us at smallbusiness.linkedin.com
Figures are based on a study conducted in November 2013 by LinkedIn in partnership with TNS, and refer to North American businesses only.
SMB: Small Businesses ($1M - $9.9M revenue) and Medium Businesses ($10M - $49.9M revenue). Hyper-growth: SMBs that report a significant increase in revenue YoY.
Additional source: SBA Office of Advocacy.
Small Business
smallbusiness.linkedin.com