- Most small businesses proceed to look to social media to assist them drive their business growth, despite the fact that the medium presents content and strategic challenges, based on recent research from Verizon Business and Morning Consult.
- In the firms’ sixth annual State of Small Business Survey, greater than three-quarters of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) agree that social media positively impacts their business performance. At the identical time, greater than half (54%) admit struggling to maintain their content fresh and stay awake to this point with social media trends.
- To help, lots of them are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) for assistance. Per the survey, 28% of SMBs use AI for their marketing and social media efforts, and 24% use technology to help their written communications.
Verizon and Morning Consult’s research indicates that, nearly 20 years in, social media stays a critical component of small- and medium-sized business strategy. According to the research, most of those firms are using social media to supply sales and deals on products and services that may appeal to recent customers or to extend customer engagement and increase online traffic. The survey queried decision makers at 600 small to midsize businesses (defined as lower than 500 employees) in March 2025.
Facebook is the preferred platform, with 82% of respondents using the social media network to advertise products and connect with customers. Forty percent are using social media “storefronts” or “shops” to sell on to consumers. Only 71% of respondents were using Instagram, and 69% were using YouTube. More than half (58%) of the SMBs are on TikTok. Nearly three-quarters (73%) said they plan to expand their presence to other social media platforms over the subsequent 12 months.
Unsurprisingly, the reliance on social media has increased content needs. More than 60% of SMB decision makers either began creating content or increased their investment in content creation during the last 12 months. Seventy-one percent have an in-house department or have staff dedicated to creating content for social media.
Still, feeding the content beast stays a challenge. More than half (54%) said they struggle to maintain up with their content needs across multiple social media channels and platforms, and 54% said they struggle to maintain the content fresh and sustain with social media trends.
To sustain, many have used, or are considering using, artificial intelligence. According to the survey, 71% of respondents said they’re using or would think about using AI for their social media and marketing, and 64% said they might use it for their written communications. Other usages included inventory management (69%), data management (68%), services or products recommendations (68%) and customer support (68%).
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