Small business owners are still flocking to social media as a way to acquire and retain customers, but social media networks haven't really returned the love.
A new study by Manta, a provider of small business solutions, indicates that 59 percent of business owners don't see a return on investment (ROI) from their social media efforts. With Facebook topping their list as the most-used network, much of this lack of ROI has to fall on its shoulders. Surprisingly, however, they still primarly count on Facebook. Fifty-three percent of respondents believe Facebook to be the network returning the most value to their business.
This could be because the other options (Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest) have even less perceived value to them - Google+ comes in second with 15 percent, followed by LinkedIn (11 percent), while Twitter and Pinterest trail behind at 5 and 2 percent respectively in regard to the value small businesses assign them.
Regardless, Facebook still has a long ways to go to get these small business owners to open their wallets, as 47 percent of them see ROI on their social media reports receiving less than $100 each month, so it makes sense that 49 percent of small business owners are unwilling to spend money on social media promotion.
