Social Media Influence Failing Small Businesses: Research Shows Companies Boast Followers Yet Struggle with Converting These into Customers
The latest GoDaddy Global Entrepreneurship Survey 2025 reveals that entrepreneurs in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH region) are embracing a hybrid approach to business, combining online and offline presence to optimize customer reach and increase turnover.
In the DACH region, 24% of businesses are utilizing online shops or digital marketplaces, and 17% are selling directly via social media. This shift towards digital channels is evident, with 60% of small entrepreneurs considering digital visibility crucial for their sales strategies.
However, challenges persist. Over half (50%) of entrepreneurs struggle to convert followers into paying customers on social media, and 45% fail to reach their target audience with posts. To address these issues, GoDaddy is focusing on providing small businesses with intelligent, simple tools like Show In Bio, GoDaddy Studio, and GoDaddy Airo to simplify digital marketing and convert engagement into real results.
GoDaddy Airo, an integrated AI software, assists users in starting their business faster and easier, helping to create a website, drive traffic to the site, and increase revenue. The tool is just one example of the AI support available to businesses in the DACH region.
Local specialized agencies play a crucial role by blending social media strategy, content creation, and community engagement with data-driven insights. Agencies like Kingfluencers from Zurich, 3z digital GmbH (St. Gallen), Highway 61 (Zurich), xeit GmbH, JUNGMUT (Cologne), Mediacharge (Munich), and rock&stars digital offer tailored social media strategies, branding, and digital consulting for small and mid-sized businesses. These agencies often integrate AI tools for targeted campaigns and engagement tracking.
Effective AI tools used by these agencies and businesses typically include AI-powered content creation and curation platforms, social listening and sentiment analysis tools, predictive analytics, and chatbots and automated messaging. Influencer marketing combined with AI is particularly potent in the DACH region, with AI systems identifying relevant micro-influencers for authentic promotion and higher conversion rates.
In conclusion, small businesses in the DACH region benefit most by partnering with specialized local agencies that leverage AI-powered tools for influencer marketing, content strategy, and data-driven campaign optimization. This approach enables them to convert engagement on social platforms into tangible business outcomes effectively. Both groups also express a strong interest in better ways to reach their target audience on social media (53%), and 32% find it difficult to regularly come up with creative ideas for posts. As AI usage increases among proactive business owners in the DACH region, the need for tips and templates for writing captions and ads is also growing (27%).
- In the DACH region, social media platforms have become important channels for small businesses, with 17% selling directly via these platforms, but over half (50%) struggle to convert followers into paying customers.
- To combat these challenges, businesses and agencies in the DACH region are turning to AI tools, such as GoDaddy's Show In Bio, GoDaddy Studio, and GoDaddy Airo, and AI-powered content creation and curation platforms, chatbots, and automated messaging.
- Effective utilization of AI-powered tools, as well as influencer marketing, can help small businesses in the DACH region to convert engagement on social media into tangible business outcomes, as innovation in AI and its integration with marketing continues to grow.
