A new Citibank / GfK Roper survey indicates that most small business owners and managers are largely ignoring online social media and making little use of social networking websites and services.

Based on the companies’ recent survey of 500 small business executives across the United States, 76 percent of small businesses have not found social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to be helpful in generating business leads or for expanding their business during the last year.

Meanwhile, 86 percent say they have not used social networking sites to get business advice or information.

Small businesses are, however, making extensive use of general search engine sites such as Google and Yahoo, and are using such content sites as the Wall Street Journal’s website for business advice and information. In particular, 61 percent of small businesses say they rely on search engine sites.

According to Maria Veltre, Executive Vice President of Citi’s Small Business Segment, small business’ reluctance to get involved in social media largely stems from lack of resources i.e. a lack of personnel and time to take advantage of social media.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 2:39 pm and is filed under Market Research, News and Comment, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.