1. 1
Almost all SMBs surveyed use social media for their business
81%
Of businesses
currently use social
media
6%
Plan to use social
media in the future
Source: LinkedIn Role of Social Media for SMBs Study, November 2014
2. 2
65%say social media is a
vital resource for
getting new customers
The #1 challenge facing SMBs in today’s market is attracting new
customers
Source: LinkedIn Role of Social Media for SMBs Study, November 2014
3. have used social media
for finance-related
reasons
78%
Top 5 uses of social
media for financial
purposes
Keep up-to-date on
financial trends
1
2
3
4
5
Gather preliminary
financial information
Seek advice on a
financial decision
Recommend a
financial product to
others
Evaluate a previous
financial decision
3
Over 3 in 4 SMBs use social media
for financial purposes
43%
40%
32%
26%
21%
Source: LinkedIn Role of Social Media for SMBs Study, November 2014
4. 26%
26%
25%
21%
21%
52%
48%
46%
46%
44%
Top 5 types of financial content expected on social media
Opportunities to drive content exploration by providing information
aligned to their businesses needs
New product information
Industry news / strategy information
Market and economic commentary
Networking opportunities
Company background
Information received
through social media
Information expected to
receive through social
media
4Source: LinkedIn Role of Social Media for SMBs Study, November 2014
5. 70% 45% 46% 54%
LinkedIn is the most used social media site among SMB professionals
87%
Source: LinkedIn Role of Social Media for SMBs Study, November 2014
6. Respondents are open to receiving financial information from
LinkedIn and are actioning a response based on the content
6
Openness to receiving financial
information on social media sites
55%
41% 35%
46%
Source: LinkedIn Role of Social Media for SMBs Study, November 2014
% who actioned a response after
receiving information on each network
66%
50%
59%
7. LinkedIn’s SMB audience is more engaged than the average member
– and a clear affinity with companies is observed
7
134%
More companies followed
120%
More check InMail
181%
More shares
115%
More mobile views
116%
More likely to stay up to date
on industry discussions
Index vs. Average Australian Member
Source: LinkedIn internal data, February 2016
8. 32%
27%
19%
8%
6%
1%
Personal loan Student loan Business loan
8
Affluent Millennials are entrepreneurial and willing to take financial risks
Q: People often have both long-term and shorter-term goals, both personal and financial. Which of the following are current goals for you?
11%
5%
12%
11%
Affluent Millennials
Affluent GenXers
Short-term goal
Long-term goal
Short-term goal
Long-term goal
MORE LIKELY TO
START A BUSINESS
NET 26%
NET 11%
Affluent Millennials
Affluent GenXers
% THAT HAVE AT LEAST ONE…
19X
MORE LIKELY TO
CARRY DEBT
9. M I L L E N N I A L S :
T H E S O C I A L - C E N T R I C G E N E R A T I O N
9
34%
23%
12%
AFFLUENT
MILLENNIALS MILLENNIALS GENX
VS
Seek content from financial companies on social
networks
Q: Below are several purposes you may have for using social networks. For each one, please indicate which, if any, social network(s) you use for this purpose.
MOST RELEVANT CONTENT
FOR MILLENNIALS
FINANCIAL EDUCATION (loans and taxes)
PERSONAL TAXES
PRODUCT / SERVICE INFO
REVIEWS FROM CURRENT CUTSOMERS
10. LinkedIn’s Millennial audience is one of the most engaged audiences
on the platform
10
180%
More companies followed
144%
More check InMail
237%
More shares
204%
More mobile views
135%
More likely to stay up to date
on industry discussions
Index vs. Average Australian Member
Source: LinkedIn internal data, February 2016
Editor's Notes
What we learned through our research is that Australian SMBs are using social media as a part of their overall business
8 out of 10 SMBs are using social media today and if they are not, they are planning to in the future
SMBs defined as companies with less than 8M AUD in annual revenue
Q7. How long has your company been using social media?
Data taken from Confirmit based on all respondents (including those screened)
N.B. Businesses not currently using or not planning to use social media were excluded from the survey.
N.B. Base size includes those who answered the question and subsequently were screened; hence the large base. We know these respondents own/are employed by a medium/large business but they may or may not be decision makers for financial purposes – although you would still expect them to know if their company has a social media presence.
Based on all data
Small/Medium Businesses: 80% use social media, 9% plan to use, 11% don’t use/don’t plan to use
Upper Medium Businesses: 82% use social media, 5% plan to use, 13% don’t use/don’t plan to use
Based on main sample (i.e. excluding those who do not use social media)
87% of small/medium businesses in our sample use social media, and 13% plan to use in the future (sig difference vs. large businesses).
97% of upper medium in our sample use social media (sig. difference vs. medium businesses), and 3% plan to use in the future.
Based on the sample (i.e. excluding those who do not use social media)
Q7a
Just getting started 7%
Less than 12 months 9%
1-3 years 43%
More than 3 years 35%
Do not currently, but plan to use social media in the future 7%
Do not currently, and not planning to use social media in the future 0%
NET SOCIAL MEDIA USERS 93%
We know that the biggest challenge faced by SMBs today is finding new customers
And 6 out of 10 SMBs are saying that social media is a vital resource for getting new customers
However SMBs are also using social media for financial purposes when it comes to running their business
They are using social media to:
Keep up to date on financial trends
Seek out initial information on potential financial product or service purchases
Seed out guidance from experts
Or recommend a financial product to their contacts
They are engaging on social platforms throughout the entire purchase cycle from information gathering to purchase to recommendation
Q31. For which of the following purposes have you turned to social media?
No significant differences between medium/large businesses
Small/Medium businesses: 82% use social media for financial purposes
Upper Medium: 76% use social media for financial purposes
We asked SMBs what types of content they want to see on social platforms from financial services companies
New product info and financial services industry news tops the list
and there is opportunity to fill the gaps between what they have seen and what they expect to see
Q29. If a financial services company were to use social media, what types of information would you expect to receive from it for your company?
Q30. Which, if any, of the following do you recall receiving from your financial service provider(s) via social media?
Q29. FULL BREAKDOWN OF INFORMATION EXPECTED TO BE RECEIVED
New product information 52%
Industry news / strategy information 48%
Market and economic commentary 46%
Networking opportunities 46%
Company background 44%
Finance events 44%
Product performance updates 43%
Best practices, how-to guides, checklists 41%
New innovation and technology developments (e.g. managing an app, etc.) 39%
Expert ratings, reviews or testimonials 35%
Thought leadership articles and stories 34%
Customer stories and case studies 34%
Readily sharable marketing materials (e.g. printable brochures, etc.) 30%
Peer ratings, reviews or testimonials 29%
Crowd-sourced learning (e.g. discussion forums, communities, groups etc.) 19%
Other 0%
None of the above 4%
Q30. FULL BREAKDOWN OF INFORMATION ACTUALLY RECEIVED
New product information 26%
Industry news / strategy information 26%
Market and economic commentary 25%
Finance events 22%
Company background 21%
Networking opportunities 21%
Customer stories and case studies 20%
Thought leadership articles and stories 19%
Product performance updates 18%
Best practices, how-to guides, checklists 17%
New innovation and technology developments (e.g. managing an app, etc.) 16%
Expert ratings, reviews or testimonials 15%
Peer ratings, reviews or testimonials 10%
Readily sharable marketing materials (e.g. printable brochures, etc.) 9%
Crowd-sourced learning (e.g. discussion forums, communities, groups etc.) 8%
Other 0%
None of the above 28%
Q27. MOST VALUABLE INFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Information on products/services 70%
Industry specific news/articles 69%
Testimonials/reviews/opinions from customers or clients 66%
Industry research/white papers 65%
News/articles about other companies 64%
Testimonials/reviews/opinions from industry experts 63%
Case studies from other companies 62%
Best practices guides from other companies 62%
First hand success stories from other companies 60%
Helpful tips and tools from companies via emails 58%
Testimonials/opinions from other companies 57%
Information about courses or classes 55%
Crowd-sourced learning (e.g. discussion forums, communities, groups etc.) 54%
Helpful tips and tools from companies via display ads 51%
And when it comes to the top social media site used by SMB professionals, LinkedIn came in at #1 with close to 9 out of 10 saying they regularly use LinkedIn
We asked SMBs about how open they are about receiving financial information on social media platforms, and more importantly we asked them whether they have actioned a response after receiving information on each network
Response : contacted a financial representative, purchased a financial product, conducted additional research
In other words, did the information they receive help them make a financial decision
SMBs are most open to both receiving and actioning a response based on content found on LinkedIn
Q28. How open are you to receiving financial content and information from companies you do business with on the following media sites/services?
No significant differences between Small/medium and upper medium businesses
LinkedIn was also the most popular network amongst those experiencing hyper-growth.
Q33. On which social media sites have any of the following actions ever occurred as a result of your hearing or reading something on social media?
Q33 (q27) and vs. Q9
FULL BREAKDOWN (* indicates low base)
Living Social = 77%*
Google+ = 72%
LinkedIn = 66%
Pinterest = 60%*
Facebook =59%
Foursquare = 58%*
Yelp = 57%*
Twitter = 50%
How is response defined?
And when it comes to how SMBs are engaging with content on LinkedIn, we know they are highly engaged
They are following more companies and quite active with the professional network
When we think about the SMB professionals of the future, they are the Millennials
Specifically we ran a study to understand the mindset of Affluent Millennials
What we learned is they have an entrepreneurial mindset - they are more than 2x as likely to have a goal of starting their own business
And they are willing to take the risks to finance their businesses
When it comes to social media, remember Millennials are the first generation to completely grow up using computers and the Internet, so it is no surprise they are extremely active on social media
They are more likely to be using social networks to seek content from financial companies than previous generations
And when it comes to specific types of content, financial education content is most important to Millennials
There is no doubt that having a social presence in reaching out to Millennials
And finally when it comes to Millennials’ engagement on the LinkedIn platform, it’s no surprise that they are one of the most active segments on our platform