Lacking Citibank Survey Misses The Mark About Small Business Use of Social Media
We promise to refrain from any cynicism about the survey results we receive. That said the surveys are sometimes misleading, looking for a public relations hit. Hope that isn't too cynical but the results of a Citibank commissioned survey about small business use of social media makes us wonder.
Citibank and GfK Roper conducted the survey. GfK Roper interviewed 500 small business people over the phone. The businesses had fewer than 100 employees. They were drawn from a database and segmented by SIC code. Segments included manufacturing/construction, transportation and communication, wholesale/retail, financial services and professional services.
Here's what's frustrating. No doubt the results are accurate. It would be far more astonishing if the totals were much higher than what the survey reported. The problem is the survey results come from a much larger study commissioned by Citibank about small business and the recession.
What Citibank repors about social media is just a small set of data that was part of a much larger questionnaire concerning small business and the recession. As a result, the survey has little depth about how small businesses are actually using social media.
Here's an example of what the survey reported. For instance, they say that social networks are not lead generators for small businesses.
Again, it is no big surprise that social media represents a smaller part of the pie. Here's what we do find interesting. The fact that small businesses are beginning to see the value of using social media for generating leads. A full 12% of the people said they use these social networks for that purpose. Using these social networks for generating leads is pretty experimental at this point. The fact that 12% are doing it at all is impressive.
What this survey lacks is substance. We know that few small businesses are participating in social media. We are still in the growing phase. How does this data compare year- to-year? This survey does not have that information.
What would be more interesting is a detailed look at how small business people conduct themselves online with questions that go in-depth into work habits and knowledge about social media.
The reality is we see a lot of innovation in how small businesses use social media. We see it growing by leaps and bounds. Compare it year-to-year and we would expect the picture would be a bit different.
The examples of how small businesses use social media are all around us. The food carts are awesome in my hometown of Portland, Or. @koifusionpdx is a Korean taco truck that tweets where it is going. They always have lines when they tweet where they are or where they plan to be. Another Korean taco truck in LA has had similar success. I could come up with dozens of other examples.
We show that just so it is on the record that there is a lot of life out there in how small businesses use social media.There are so many questions that can be asked in a survey to get a far more detailed view about the market.
I asked for an interview with Citibank about the survey results. No one was available today but I did get this email reply from a PR person:
As the survey stats show 3/4 of small business owners are not using social media to grow their business, but the survey also shows that 24% are using it, so you are right - it is a fact that companies are starting to use it, which is great as it's a great way to grow a business.
He goes on to say that the results were picked out of a far larger survey about small business and the recession.
So, the survey about social media was really not even intended to be in-depth at all. Instead, they segmented the data about social media out of the larger survey and crafted a press release with a tabloid headline: "Citibank Survey Reveals Small Businesses Not Joining Social Media Conversation"
It does not get much better. The press release quotes a senior executive who states:
Our survey suggests that small business owners are still feeling their way into social media, particularly when it comes to using these tools to grow their businesses," said Maria Veltre, Executive Vice President of Citi's Small Business Segment. "While social media can provide additional channels to network and help grow a business, many small businesses may not have the manpower or the time required take advantage of them."
Her statement reflects little understanding of social media. Yes, small businesses are still feeling their way with social media. This can also be said for some of the largest businesses in the world. Further, Veltre states that businesses may not have the manpower or the time. That does not appear to be a quantified statement, again reflecting the survey's lack of depth. In addition, the quote from Veltre makes her look like she knows little about how social media is even applied.
We checked into the Citibank web site to see how they are using social media. The site does not even have an RSS feed as far as we can tell.
They have no links to Twitter or Facebook. They do have a sparsely detailed Facebook fan page with 525 members. Doesn't that seem like a tiny number of people considering they are the third largest retail bank in the United States?
They have almost no presence on Twitter. I thought I had found the Twitter account for the bank but I am updating with what looks like it could be the real thing. But I don't know. They have such little presence on the social web that it is hard to tell. Even so, this Twitter feed is just aggregated Google News alerts. Is that it?
What a disappointment. We are told that Citibank will do a more detailed look at how small business uses social media. We sure hope so. For these results say very little about social media and its adoption in the small business market.
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I love social media! WHITNEY'S RANDOM IDEAS
That is surprising, but we know so many small business that dont even know what Twitter and Facebook is let alone know how to use it.
In terms of this survey, we would like to know more information about the companies that took this survey. We bet that these companies are owned by older parties
What benefits do you receive from using social media?
http://www.trigeia.com/article.php?id=151211
I think you're spot-on, Alex. My buddy from college days at Cornell, Matt Ackerson, now runs a business out of DC that focuses on bringing marketing value to small businesses (namely restaurants) and social media plays a huge role in that. It looks like they are starting their social media focus with Twitter: http://blueskylocal.com/learn-more-mass-distribution.php
Thanks Alex for sharing this incredible information with us, i really appreciate it..
Social networking sites is somewhat helpful for ranking the sites..
thanks for your sharing!
Social media is taking over the world for sure - a good read
I think the Citibank survey conclusions are a load of bullocks that completely misses the growth (though still early) of social media use in small businesses as a key way to be discovered and engage with their customers online. Loads of recent data pointing to it http://bit.ly/42DRWz.
Thanks for standing up and pointing out your thoughts and findings.
I think the story of social media is just beginning. So many businesses STILL have no presence in social media or even online for that matter.
Tried to get into Twitter but just can't. I'm huge about the internet, Facebook, etc., but I can't get into this @xyz @abc junk
Unfortunately, all too often surveys are conducted not for truly unbiased research but with some sort of ultimate motive in mind which in effect taints the outcome. I think this is the case with Citibank's survey because if they really wanted to find examples of how or if small businesses are using social media for lead generation, there are plenty to be had! We do so for our agency, WebAdvantage.net, and I know of other companies doing similarly. In fact, I've documented multiple ones in my forthcoming book, Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day (yes, sorry for the shameless plug but the point is that I had no hard time getting examples).
And, yes, the point that small business (and large, and non-profit, and government, etc.) are realizing that social media is a marketing channel worth exploring should the cornerstone of this survey's outcome, not touting the fact that small businesses do not find SM sites helpful.
Bah, humbug!
Hollis Thomases
I agree. Media is taking over the world! I was about to say 'slowly but surely' but in this case its just 'quickly.'!
The problem is, ALOT of businesses aren't using social media effectively.....as so pointed out by Citibank's lack of links on their site. I have been seeing evidence of this within my small town. When people stop paying attention to the negatives of social media and really work to use it to their advantage...they will see a huge boom in the economy!
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Not sure why you don't/won't accept the general message of this survey - small businesses, in the main, have not found social media a priority. What is so hard to get about that? You want "more detail"? Go do your own research, maybe some ethnography. It's clear that wasn't the intent of this study. To call it "misleading" is to take poetic license to a whole nother level.
Trotting out the already-overused example of the falafel cart and then saying "there's more" (where is it?) is supposed to be more convincing than GfK's effort?
Citibank doesn't have an RSS feed, so that is supposed to be some evidence of its social media strategy?
You're fishing and fishing and fishing, but not sure for what.
the Citi survey is simply another example of a firm with lots of small business clients pretending to have meaningful data to help them, and attract others: social media is Big, so we're there. They're barely even in at ankle depth, and as Alex reports, they were wading into a different pond to begin with. Let them create Twitter Ids like:
CitiDC
and tweet tidbits about local business conditions, events, reports, research, intermixed with the next loan products, and they'll gradually form a different view. Let them put @CitiDC on their statements and watch what happens.
I appreciated your analysis of their survey. Too many times people believe data without understanding the data set itself. I too belief that 12% is encouraging and I would expect that most of the 63% hadn't really tried anything.
If they had data from last year I'm confident that the the press release could have just as easily said 300% more small businesses are experiencing results by using social media or 500% of small businesses are exploring social media.
Since the major sites themselves are experiencing explosive growth I know the amount of interest from the small businesses that I speak in front of has exploded. People that a year ago were barely using their websites are now asking for social media consulting and training.
It's topical and people are exploring it. The problem is that of those that do get onto social media the jump in without a plan and when you fail to plan...
Doug