Small businesses aren't using social networking to garner business

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Have you embraced social media networking to promote your veterinary practice? If you are like the average small business owner, the answer is no.

A survey of 500 U.S. small business executives by Citibank/GfK Roper reveals that 76 percent of respondents don’t think that social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn helped increase their business last year. And 86 percent do not use these sites to seek out business information. Instead, 61 percent of the respondents use Web search engines such as Google and Yahoo! to look for business information and advice.

According to Citibank, these findings may indicate that small businesses have yet to discover the advantages of social networking, often because of a lack of time to invest in it. However, 42 percent of the respondents are using their own Web sites to increase their business leads and sales.

If you haven’t dipped your toe into the online social networking pond, click on the related links below to see how your practice can start using these free and easy sites as marketing tools.