A large part of small businesses still see ‘social channels’ and e-commerce as a threat

We all know the importance of social media for organizations and how accelerated growth is expected in terms of its adoption for next year. However, surprisingly, a third of SMEs see e-commerce channels as a threat, according to a new report from Epson, to which we must add that many of them do not understand how Social Media Marketing can help in their business.

In the study focused on the United Kingdom, we see that 78% of SMEs carry out some type of online or e-commerce strategy, but despite this, it does not leave the rest of the countries in terms of its adoption. Only 59% of companies see an opportunity in e-commerce, compared to 72% in all of Europe. However, despite the adoption of these channels as well as social media, these companies say they do not know how to use them properly.

The research shows that the UK does not go against the grain when it comes to adopting and using social media, but that 60% have a corporate account on Twitter and a third part a Facebook page. The problem is the understanding of how they can use social media to boost their business, an aspect detected among 42% of companies.

“While it is encouraging to see that the majority of UK SMEs are involved in e-commerce, it is worrisome that many still consider it a threat,” said Sara Murray, founder of Confused.com.

“In the midst of this very lively period, the understanding of how to take advantage of social media combined with the growing popularity of e-commerce, should offer companies a path of growth that they can not afford to ignore,” he added.

In an attempt to reduce this fear, the British Government will run free seminars between January and March 2012 in several cities, where up to 3,500 small businesses will be educated.

“The SMEs of the United Kingdom must re-use the Internet. The objective of this program is to make an intensive effort on how to exploit the web to its full extent, “said Doug Richard, one of the panelists of these courses.

“It’s about using the speed of the web to quickly and radically change the business prospects of a large number of SMEs. What we hope to instill in them is that the power of the Internet spreads everywhere, even in profits and losses. “