LinkedIn Is Small Businesses’ Favorite Social Network

It might come as a surprise, but as a recent survey points out, LinkedIn is considered most beneficial by the small businesses. The survey was carried out by The Wall Street Journal and Vistage International and revealed that six in ten small-business owners think that social media is important for their business growth.

When it comes to top networks these people use for their business, LinkedIn was a favorite, with 30% of the mentions; followed by Facebook (20%); Twitter (14%); YouTube (13%); Google+ (7%) and Pinterest (3%). 11% mentioned other social networks or none.

Asked what social networks have the most potential for their business, the respondents placed LinkedIn again on the first place with 41% of the mentions, followed by, really surprisingly, others/none option which got 20%. However, small business owners think that YouTube has 15% potential and Facebook 14%. Google+ got 4%, Twitter 3% and Pinterest only 2% from this point of view.

Twitter seems to have great problems in this sector. The network already struggles to get more users and to keep them engaged online. Google+ seems to have good results on some segments, but in what small businesses are concerned it is clear that the social network has a huge problem. Though many brands jumped in Pinterest’s bandwagon and created accounts in this social network, the survey reveals that in fact this isn’t a very promising social network for small businesses either. Facebook manages to stay on top – even if it wasn’t the top choice – and, according to another survey recently released, this is the social network which induces the most stress, but which also has the most positive effect on its users.

This study’s conclusions could be, however, only somewhat surprising given the fact that LinkedIn is positioned and perceived as a business focused social network. It looks like for most small business owners, a combination of the professional opportunities brought by LinkedIn should and the interactivity and fun Facebook provides could be the key to success. Depending on the budget available and results, Twitter and YouTube or Google+ could be taken in consideration at one point or another.