Only a Third of Commercial Property SMEs Implement a Social Media Policy

Posted on 23 January, 2012 by MOVEHUT

Small commercial business owners in the UK understand the benefits of online PR and marketing however are “too slow to realise their enormous benefits”, according to a recent survey from Malvern-based agency Williams PR*.

The survey, conducted last week, sampled 1,000 small and medium-sized commercial property businesses in the UK about planned marketing activity for 2012.

While four out of five SMEs are set to increase their marketing budgets this year, only one third have a social media policy in force. Nearly a quarter of commercial property businesses polled (23.7 per cent) either do not manage digital and trading marketing, or do so on an ad-hoc basis.

Key findings from the survey found:

  • Only one-third of small businesses in the UK have a social media strategy
  • For micro-businesses with less than 10 employees, this figure falls to less than two per cent
  • Of those that do, almost half (44 per cent) are not confident about their policies
  • One-third of small commercial property businesses do not plan to have a social media policy in 2012
  • One quarter of small businesses plan to pilot a new marketing agency in 2012
  • 29 per cent will increase their social media budget, 26 per cent will increase their PR budget, and 25 per cent will increase their overall marketing budget in 2012
  • Over one-third of small commercial property businesses still depend on the managing director or single key figure to link together online and offline marketing
  • Only 4.0 per cent of small commercial property businesses will reduce their marketing budget in 2012
  • Small commercial property businesses see digital marketing as a low-risk, low-cost strategy, however 38 per cent of micro-businesses still haven’t thought about a digital marketing plan.


The survey focused on three key sizes of businesses: micro businesses, with fewer than ten employees; small commercial property businesses, with between ten and 49 employees; and medium-sized businesses, with between 50 and 250 employees.

Rowenna Williams, Managing Director of Worcestershire marketing and PR company Williams PR, stated: “We have a bizarre inverted system here when we look at digital marketing. The small companies which stand to benefit the most from social media are unsure, unskilled or even a little too complacent to explore it. On the other side, the larger, medium-sized organisations with the bigger budgets throw money at social media, despite often not having a clue what it is or how it works.”

Mrs Williams further added: “Digital marketing is a proven means to achieve results as part of a coordinated marketing plan. However, too many start-ups and young businesses end up chasing their tails. Perhaps some entrepreneurs want to learn the ropes themselves, or think they’ll wait for the business to grow a little before ultimately investing in an in-house marketing and PR team.”


*Williams PR is a combined online and offline marketing and PR agency based in Worcestershire, ear Birmingham. The company specialises in marketing and PR services for small and medium-sized commercial property businesses.




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