US Edition 
Facebook 'a waste of time', say entrepreneurs
Owners of small businesses say they are not sure their social media strategy is making any difference
Small businesses owners spend an average of between six and 10 hours a week marketing their companies on social media – but this could be a total waste of time, according to a new study.
In a survey of 1,000 UK small business owners and directors, almost two-thirds said there was no evidence their social media strategy was having a positive effect.
Social platforms such as YouTube and Facebook boast more than 1bn monthly users apiece but marketing activity on these sites had no discernible impact on revenues or brand awareness for 62pc of respondents, who said they were uncertain, disagreed or strongly disagreed that social media had been effective for their business.
The remaining 38pc said promoting their business on Facebook or Twitter had been beneficial to their business, according to media consultancy Deal With The Media, which commissioned the survey.
Tessa Killingbeck, owner of Norwich-based greetings card company KillingB, said that two years of posting to various social media websites had resulted in almost no new sales. “I used to spend a long time creating exciting, eye-catching posts for daily reach. But while people may like a picture, it will not translate in a sale or even a click to my website,” she said.
John Fretwell, owner of Dorset-based online retailer Deliamo, added that analytics and customer feedback showed that social media posting translated to “hardly any new business”.
Facebook attracted criticism from the small business community when it changed its algorithm to limit the natural reach of posts. To ensure a wide audience for new content on the social platform, businesses now have to pay a minimum of $1 a day.
Separate data by research firm Social Media Examiner suggest 96pc of small businesses use social media marketing, with Facebook the most popular website. This is followed by Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.
However, the company added that many SME owners are not sure whether their posting to Facebook leads to better brand awareness and stronger relationships with customers.