Just 47 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses in Alberta are using social media, according to the latest ATB Business Beat survey.
“What we’re hearing from those who don’t use social media is that they’re busy enough already or that word of mouth is working for them, and others just don’t see how it’s relevant to their business,” ATB Financial’s Teresa Clouston said.
“But while it’s still a majority, it is shrinking… More businesses are seeing the value of engaging with their customers, whether through advertising or promotions or just sharing the latest information.”
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The level of social media use depends largely on the age of the company and the sector it’s in.
In the retail industry, 71 per cent of businesses are using social media. To compare, in the oil and gas, construction and manufacturing sectors, social media use is 33, 29 and 25 per cent, respectively.
“If a business thinks it’s irrelevant to their customers, it might have to do with the type of business they are,” Clouston explained.
“For example, somebody in an industry that might be more business to business sees it as less relevant than perhaps a retail industry who markets directly to a consumer.”
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She says the highest use of social media is to advertise a business or a product. However, using social media to engage in conversations with customers has risen in the last three years from seven to 15 per cent.
“Demographic does seem to make a difference,” Clouston said. “When we looked at the age of the respondents from these enterprises, there’s a dramatically higher utilization of social media from that millennial-ish group and a dramatically lower (utilization) in the older age set.”
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Of the businesses in operation for less than six years, 72 per cent are using social media, the survey found. Of those owners or representatives between 18 and 34 years of age, 69 per cent are using social media for their business. And of those businesses in the startup phase of operations or in the initial growth period, 64 per cent and 73 per cent, respectively, use social media.
While the overall use of social media among Alberta businesses is still low, it’s growing.
“It feels so mainstream and if all enterprises are ultimately owned by an actual human being who is also a consumer, and that’s so mainstream, it is surprising to me that that doesn’t translate into their business life,” Coulston said.
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