LONDON--(BUSINESSWIRE)-- A new survey from online marketing tools provider Constant Contact, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTCT - News) indicates a strong disconnect between British small businesses perception of social media marketing success and the reality.

Among the one quarter (24 per cent) of British small business decision makers surveyed that report using Facebook to market their organisation, more than a third (37 per cent) say they dont think it has helped their business in any way, and only one fifth (21 per cent) believe they are doing a great job using Facebook to market their business. The data reveals several misconceptions that help to explain these attitudes, and shows that small businesses are actually doing a better job than they think.

"We were surprised to see the misconceptions that many British small businesses have about what social media marketing success looks like - especially when their own results show they are doing a fantastic job using Facebook to drive customer engagement, find new customers and generate repeat sales," explained Annette Iafrate, UK managing director at Constant Contact.

Small businesses use Engagement Marketing without knowing it

In looking at the how small businesses are using Facebook to market their organisation, the survey revealed a major misconception around engagement, demonstrating that Britains small businesses simply arent familiar enough with Engagement Marketing to recognise when they are doing it. In fact, nearly a third (32 per cent) of decision makers whose small businesses use Facebook say they dont know how they engage with Facebook fans, yet they also report employing a variety of engagement tactics on their Facebook pages.

Of those whose organisations use Facebook in some way:

The great news here is that British small businesses are using Engagement Marketing to their benefit without even realising it, said Iafrate. Engagement isnt complicated, nor does it have to be costly. Responding to fans, asking questions, and Like-gating content or offers are all great ways to boost interaction with your fans. The best part for time-starved small businesses is that doing these things takes just a few minutes a day.

Small businesses overestimate whats needed for success

The survey also revealed a huge misconception around evaluating the success of engagement tactics. Of those willing to hazard a guess, a fifth of respondents whose small business use Facebook (23 per cent) believe success equates to achieving more than 500 shares, comments or Likes on a single post. In reality, it takes far less to find success, and more than half (52 per cent) of respondents who reported knowing how many Likes, shares, or comments their posts usually get are achieving fantastic results for their business by generating up to ten Likes, shares or comments on each Facebook Business page post.

From talking to small businesses every day, we know that engagement typically happens in small doses and over time, noted Iafrate. When it comes to small businesses and social media marketing, small really is huge. Just one or two shares can put your content in front of hundreds of new sets of eyeballs.

Original post:
Constant Contact Survey Reveals that Small Businesses Need Help Evaluating Social Media Marketing Success