Study Says Small-Medium Businesses Seeing Higher Twitter ROI

Published November 14, 2013 | By Elaine Fogel

A recent study by BIA/Kelsey’s Local Commerce Monitor says that small-medium businesses (SMBs) perceived their Twitter ROI as “excellent” (10-19 times spend; 18.8%) or “extraordinary” (20+ times spend; 12.3%), up from 25% of advertisers in last year’s survey and 17.1% in 2011. But, there’s something missing here.

It’s important to know whether these results represent B2C (business to consumer), B2B (business to business) companies, or a mix of both? Personally, the results would have more value if they showed B2B and B2C separately. Other studies I’ve read seem to indicate that B2C companies are benefiting more from social media marketing than B2B.

The study also shows that SMB usage of Twitter for advertising and promotion has been steadily increasing over the past few years. In fact, 24.3% of SMBs used Twitter for advertising and promotion this year, compared with 22% in 2012 and 16.1% in 2011.

Other findings:

In 2013, 25.7% of SMBs surveyed rated the quality of lead sources from Twitter as good or excellent, compared to 22.8% in 2012.

In 2013, nearly 34% of SMBs surveyed said they currently have Twitter accounts, and another 42% are planning to add it.

In 2013, 47% of SMBs with Twitter report updating it daily, while 31% update weekly.

This is all interesting news, but, another question is nagging me.

How did the study define “advertising and promotion?” Was it traditional broadcasting of advertising messages, was it from “Promoted Tweets,” or did it represent content marketing tactics - the sharing of valuable content? Unfortunately, the study report doesn’t say.

And, let’s not forget that “BIA/Kelsey advices local media companies of all types, sizes and platforms.” That’s what it says on its Web site, grammatical error included.

Now, this doesn’t mean the study is any less valid. However, I tend to favor data from impartial marketing researchers over companies that use it to build their brands.

The challenge is that private businesses are conducting the lion’s share of marketing research these days. There’s a greater chance that results may be gleaned from skewed or inadequate survey questions or a bias by the company. However, I am certainly open to hearing more details about this study.

So, it’s your turn. Is your small-medium business experiencing good or excellent quality leads from using Twitter? Please comment and share!