Facebook trumps email as small business marketing tool

2/28/2011

With more than 500 million registered members, Facebook has quickly become one of the most popular places for consumers to congregate online. Now, small business opportunities are capitalizing on this preference by leveraging the social network as a marketing tool, according to a new report from BIA/Kelsey.

The study shows that 48 percent of respondents use Facebook to promote their products, conduct customer service and keep in touch with existing customers and prospective clients. In terms of usage, the emerging platform trumped even email, one of the most popular online advertising channels.

Blogging also proved to be a popular marketing tool, with 22 percent of respondents managing an active blog. Additionally,

19 percent use the micro blogging service Twitter for advertising purposes. A quarter of respondents said they used another social network besides Facebook or Twitter to market their products and services.

As the economy continues to improve and small business lending practices begin to relax, small businesses are beginning to spend more on their marketing budgets. According to a report from MerchantCircle, companies are looking to spend around $2,500 each on advertising in 2011.