Only one-third of Swiss SMEs are represented on social media
A large portion of the Swiss population is active on social media and uses this technology regularly. But to what extent do Swiss SMEs also maintain their own profiles on such platforms, and what kind of reach do these profiles generate? A survey by the University of Applied Sciences of Graubünden paints a sobering picture.
Just under one-third of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland are on social media, according to the analysis, with Facebook at 29.3 percent, Instagram at 16.1 percent and LinkedIn at 12.4 percent the dominant platforms.
21.3 percent of Swiss SMEs operate profiles on at least two social media platforms. Facebook and Instagram are combined most frequently, in 137 cases (14 percent). A special feature can be seen in second place: In 9.8 percent (96 cases) of the SMEs surveyed, Facebook is used exclusively without another platform. Third place is taken by the combination of Facebook and LinkedIn with 8.8 percent (86 cases).
In terms of the reach that SMEs achieve with their social media presence, Instagram is in first place, with an average reach of 1,193 followers, followed by Facebook with 924 followers.
Individual platforms used with restraint
The reach on Xing in particular is very low, with an average of only 17 followers. Looking at the reach of Swiss SMEs across all platforms, the average reach is 1,438 followers.
"The figures indicate that with regard to own social media profiles, for many SMEs the expected efforts exceed the expected returns. This is precisely where we come in in our project by helping SMEs to identify valuable returns by using social media efficiently and sensibly," says Sebastian Früh, project manager at the Swiss Institute for Entrepreneurship.
Attract new customers and retain existing ones
Social media offer small and medium-sized companies a wide range of possible applications and added value potential. Many SMEs are particularly interested in outbound communication, which should bring them new customers or help them to better retain existing customers.
Somewhat less intensively, SMEs on social media platforms pursue purposes relating to incoming information ("inbound") and its analysis. Through interactions with potential and current customers on social media, SMEs could also apply market research methods regarding product-related preferences or price sensitivities, for example. However, realizing this added-value potential would require considerable effort on the part of the companies, which would have to be spent in addition to managing day-to-day business.
Importance of social media on the rise
The importance of using social media is growing for SMEs, as the proportion of the Swiss population active on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is increasing. For SMEs, it is important to find out to what extent possible positive contributions to their business can actually be realized at reasonable cost and effort.
The University of Applied Sciences Graubünden would like to use the Research report "Use of social media platforms by Swiss SMEs". which support companies in considering their social media presence. The report provides a first-time overview of the use and reach of Swiss SMEs on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, XING, LinkedIn, YouTube) and was produced as part of a project funded by the Friends of the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden and includes a survey of social media activities based on a representative sample of 976 Swiss SMEs.
