From the ‘oh do you think so Doctor?‘ file, the WSJ trumpeted the SocialMediaExaminer.com report we highlighted here a few weeks back.

But the ‘teachable moment’ from this report comes not in recognizing the obvious point that Facebook is the most widely-used platform for New Media marketing, but in understanding that the ages-old truism of not putting your eggs all in one basket applies equally to this specialized genre:

About seven in 10 small-business owners say they “strongly agree” that social media is important to their business, recently released data show. But they prefer to use some social platforms far more than others.

The most popular is Facebook, followed closely by Twitter and LinkedIn, according to a report from SocialMediaExaminer.com, a free online magazine on how businesses use social media. The findings are based on a survey of 2,573 owners with 100 employees or less.

Blogs and video sites like YouTube ranked in the middle while MySpace scored the lowest, with Groupon just one notch above.

Michael Stelzner, founder of SocialMediaExaminer and author of the report, says MySpace landed at the bottom because it’s lost its appeal among consumers. But Groupon did poorly mainly just due to the fact that it offers a service most applicable to retailers as opposed to service providers.

Meanwhile, Mr. Stelzner expects LinkedIn to grow in popularity among small-business owners this year, as the site has added a number of new features for sharing and promoting links to third-party content, such as news articles.

Small businesses place great value on social media in general, according to Mr. Stelzner. “They’ve always been the torch bearer for social media and our study shows they’re benefiting the most,” he says. “Big businesses can’t move quickly enough to keep up with it. Social media provides an opportunity for small, nimble businesses to get a leg up over their large competitors.”

Readers, what’s your favorite social-media outlet and why?

While I agree that small businesses have an advantage over the big dogs in their ability to be more “nimble”, the problem is that, well, most aren’t. At least yet.

Cross-pollination between and among the various networks, with a keen eye toward each network’s unique user demographics and a focus on ROI, is absolutely essential to an effective New Media campaign. Whether your campaign is long or short-term, putting 50 eggs in the Facebook basket and none in the Twitter or YouTube baskets is not an efficient use of the Internet’s vast consumer resources.

Classic media – TV, Radio and print – worked more or less the same way. New Media, however, offers small businesses a greater opportunity to present customers with their choice of medium and allows them to follow your story with far more ease than could Classic Media.

Give your Facebook fans the information they want. Give your Twitter followers the information they want. Give your more visual consumers, your YouTubers, the information they want in the manner they enjoy. Then let each community know that they have several choices in absorbing that information.

A small business New Media strategy, to be truly effective in creating brand loyalty and driving sales, must be specifically tailored to their own unique goals and must efficiently use the networks at their disposal.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket; the other baskets will get lonely.