Emily Maltby and Shira Ovide, writing for the Wall Street Journal. Reporting on findings from WSJ and Vistage International survey:
Just 3% of 835 business owners surveyed […] said Twitter had the most potential to help their companies.
LinkedIn […] topped the survey, with 41% of respondents singling it out as potentially beneficial to their company. Sixteen percent picked YouTube […] and 14% chose […] Facebook.
And summarizing the feelings of "many" small business owners:
Many owners […] tend to think the "value" of social media comes primarily from measurable factors, such as pageviews, click-throughs or direct sales.
Not surprising. It is easy to understand and optimize for things that are easily quantified. These are often important indicators of near-term health. But it is equally important to keep a sharp focus on your brand and evaluate how short term efforts may affect long term potential — not so easily measured.