32 percent of small-business advertisers plan to include social media in their marketing mix : Study

Chantilly :According to the latest wave of BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor study, 9 percent of small and medium-sized businesses currently use Twitter to market their businesses. In addition, 32 percent of SMBs indicated they plan to include social media in their marketing mix in the next 12 months by using a page on a social site such as Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace. Furthermore, 39 percent of SMBs plan to include customer ratings or reviews on their own Web sites, and 31 percent plan to include links or ads placed on social sites or blogs.

“Social media is clearly gaining traction among SMB advertisers,” said Steve Marshall, director of research and consulting, BIA/Kelsey. “As local consumers increasingly gravitate to social networks, local businesses understand they need to be part of the conversation. This opens up a market opportunity for local media companies that offer products and services that enable local advertisers to easily integrate social media into their marketing efforts.”

The use of social media by SMBs will be examined at BIA/Kelsey’s upcoming conference, Interactive Local Media 2009 (ILM:09), Dec. 9-11 in Los Angeles, California. A session titled “Local/Social: Better Engagement Than Search?” featuring Tim Kendall, director of monetization, Facebook, and Kara Nortman, senior vice president of publishing, Citysearch, will explore the role of social media relative to local search advertising, and how social media can translate into effective leads for local businesses.

ILM:09 is BIA/Kelsey’s annual conference devoted to digital media with a local focus. The theme for this year’s event is “Monetizing the Local Opportunity,” and the agenda will cover a range of important topics, including local social media, local search and mobile search. Conference sponsors include 3L System Group, Acxiom, AgendiZe, Exalead, Local.com, Local Matters, Localeze, Marchex and MatchCraft. Association partners include International Classified Media Association (ICMA) and Yellow Pages Association (YPA). Media partners include AIM Group, TVover.net and YP Talk.