Twitter is just one of the many online and offline media that BIA/Kelsey tracks in the latest wave of the Local Commerce Monitor™ (LCM). LCM is BIA/Kelsey’s long-running study of how U.S. SMB advertisers are evolving their use of media to acquire and retain customers.

SMBs perceived ROI (return on investment) for Twitter has increased over the past three years. As shown in the chart below, in Wave 17 nearly a third of SMBs surveyed rated Twitter’s ROI as Excellent (10-19x Spend) or Extraordinary (Over 20x Spend), compared to 25% in Wave 16, and 17.1% in Wave 15.

Twitter isn’t the only social media to show growth in SMB perceived ROI from Wave 15. Facebook pages have also been growing since Wave 15 (2011). In Wave 15, 23.1% of Excellent (10-19x Spend) or Extraordinary (Over 20x Spend), which grew to 29.4% in Wave 16, and 34.1% in Wave 17.

Other points about SMBs and Twitter:

• Wave 17, 25.7% of SMBs surveyed rated the quality of lead sources from Twitter as Good or Excellent, compared to 22.8% in Wave 16.
• In Wave 17, nearly 34% of SMBs surveyed said they currently have Twitter accounts, and another 42% are planning to add it.
• 47% of SMBs with Twitter report updating it daily, while 31% update weekly, in Wave 17.

Interested in learning more about LCM Wave 17 or getting a custom cut for your business? Check out BIA/Kelsey’s LCM page.

We’ll be covering this and other themes in great depth at our upcoming conference, Leading in Local: Interactive Local Media, December 10-12 in San Francisco. Be there and join the conversation!

If you are looking for more information on Twitter’s recent IPO, try Jed Williams’ blog post “Twitter’s IPO: What Are 140 Characters Really Worth?”

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Since its launch, Manta has been clear about its place in the fragmenting social media ecosystem. Whereas most networks are person-centric (i.e., Facebook for consumers; LinkedIn for job seekers) and many cater to brand advertisers (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), CEO Pamela Springer reinforced the company’s vision to us: “the largest community for promoting and connecting SMBs.”

True to its word, Manta has unveiled a host of new SMB features through its Social Connections suite that expands on the SEO-rich profile content and Connect SMB forum that it’s known for. Many of the social behaviors and functions that are endemic to personal networks will now be available to local businesses to grow their relationships, vet partners and stay abreast of industry developments.

Expanded member profiles enable business owners to “connect to” other companies, as well as other businesses they’ve worked at, schools and universities they attended and community organizations they belong to. The benefit for SMBs is a deeper view into how they’re connected to fellow Manta members. Connections trigger activity notifications from businesses in their network. Members can also “follow” businesses for up-to-date information.

A second product — Manta Recommendations — enables SMBs to recommend fellow businesses using their member profiles. Recommendations appear on the business profile. Beyond content placement, however, Manta offers distribution and reach through a “Recommendation Widget” that the business can use to stitch the endorsements directly into a website or blog.

The underlying motivation for all this new functionality was driven home by a recent Manta survey of SMB owners that revealed that 55 percent of business owners point to referrals as “giving them the biggest boost in business.” This distanced all other options — including networking at events and social media networking on Facebook and LinkedIn — by a wide margin. Here, Manta is adding well-known social actions to enhance the digital referral network that SMBs already rely on.

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