In fact, according to the lead analyst on the report, social and/or community networking sites barely factored into consumers’ buying decisions, at least the online consumers JupiterResearch surveyed. I found that very interesting as community and networking sites have gotten a lot of (positive) buzz the past couple of years. I’d even written about some of them, though, I confess, I only visit them if they happen to come up in a Google search.
Why am I blogging about this? Because if like most small businesses you have a small marketing budget and want to get the most bang for every buck, I wanted to let you know that you’re better off using that money on your own site — and on making it more attractive to search engines (through search engine optimization), particularly Google, which, according to the survey, still reigns supreme in the search world — than on, say, Facebook or MySpace or Yelp.
That said, social networking sites and community sites do have their place, especially if you are marketing to a younger or niche demographic whose members are more prone to regularly visit and post and read comments on these sites.
Want to learn more? Check out my article for E-commerce-Guide.com, titled “Social Commerce: Trend or Fad.”
Disagree with the report or have suggestions on how small businesses with small marketing budgets should spend those dollars? Let me know. I’ll post legitimate (non-spam) comments.
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