The Year of the Social Small Business [INFOGRAPHIC]

Small businesses and service providers make the US economy tick. They create six out of every ten new jobs, and pumped about $3 trillion into the economy last year. If you’re a small business owner, you should stand tall and proud knowing this.

But leading a small business isn’t always green pastures. Risk and uncertainty are present at every turn, and each decision you make can impact your company’s bottom line.

LinkedIn wants to help take your business to the next level this year, so we conducted a study to investigate how small businesses are using social media, and whether it’s worth the investment.

You might be surprised by what we found: 94% of survey respondents who use social media said they use it for marketing, and 3 in 5 say social solves for the core business challenge of attracting new customers.

For hyper growth companies, social media is even more important. They invest in social media more than any other channel, and agree that it’s extremely effective at accomplishing marketing goals like branding, content marketing, and lead generation.

To see all the stats, check out the infographic below. And to put this knowledge to use, visit our new small business microsite to learn more about how LinkedIn can help you achieve your unique business goals through social media.

To learn how LinkedIn can help your small business reach its full potential, visit us at smallbusiness.linkedin.com.