Business Owners Question Social Media’s Sizzle

The majority of small business owners are either not using social media or are unsure of its impact on sales, according to the NY Report survey. But sales may not be the right measure to use when evaluating effectiveness. “Social media is not nirvana for sales, but it can be that for developing loyalty and awareness, improving service, and growing relationships and contacts,” says Mardy Sitzer, founder and CEO of Bumblebee Design & Marketing. She advises business owners to focus on five benchmarks in order to measure ROI for social media:

• Number and frequency of one-on-one dialogues
• Number of comments
• Frequency with which people share your content
• Increases or decreases in friends/followers/fans
• Number of new subscribers to your blog or newsletters