Social Media Marketing: Any Benefits for Small Business?

Social media has taken the world by storm with its ability to connect individuals from all around the world. Because of this incredible degree of inter-connectivity, small businesses are turning to social media marketing, or SMM, to appeal to individuals within their locality and create a solid customer base.

With websites such as Facebook and Twitter enhancing communication, it is easy for a business to reach a large audience in a short period of time and with less effort than normal marketing activities. However, some small businesses do wonder if they have what it takes to succeed on these social networking websites. There is a high degree of competition and this can be discouraging, but this is something that can easily be rectified with the right techniques.

SMM is Becoming Irreplaceable

Creating a page on a social networking site may seem more difficult than what it is. The truth is that small businesses are benefiting the most from having an avenue in which they can market to a certain geographic area. This is because customers like to know when a local business has something that they need. As a matter of fact, they enjoy the more personal interaction that the business has with its fans, unlike large corporations with pages so busy they do not have the capacity to keep up with customer questions and comments.

In a survey conducted amongst small business owners, approximately 90% of them agreed that social networking is a very important part of their business. However, approximately 66% of small business owners strongly agreed to this fact. The marketplace is a very noisy place, so it is important for the small business owner to plow through that noise in some way.

Benefits of Social Media

Websites such as Facebook and Twitter increase exposure with 72% of small businesses reporting that they have seen increased traffic as a result of creating and managing accounts on these platforms. Here is a breakdown of what small business owners have reported:

• 88% has been able to generate additional exposure
• 72% have reported increased traffic and more subscribers
• 62% has seen improved Google search results
• 56% has created new business partnerships
• 51% gained qualified leads they never had before
• 49% reduced their marketing expenses because social network marketing is free
• 43% noticed an increase in sales

With over 89% of businesses reporting benefits, small businesses were those to see more benefits.

How to Get Started

The way to get started is to utilize social network marketing in addition to marketing techniques that already exist, such as using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to draw traffic. Using SEO can help draw those customers that do not use social networking. The two can work together to drive traffic to the site that converts into sales.

But first, simply create social network accounts and create pages. Pages include information about the business, such as contact information. Promotions can be conducted through the page, contests, product information, and so much more can be done. Regularly updating pages and publishing updates at least once per day can keep a business fresh in the minds of the people who have become fans of it.

In the end, many individuals that “like” or “follow” a business on Facebook or Twitter do so without ever previously being a customer, so marketing through social networking is a great way to gain new customers and to promote repeat business. Most of all, individuals become personally invested in the business simply from seeing consistent updates, contests, and promotions. In the end, and as statistics have shown, the bottom line of the business is positively influenced.

To be able to truly take advantage of the benefits of SMM, call Fall RIver Website Design (Massachusetts based web technologies firm) at 508-415-8648 for a free consultation and evaluation of your current media marketing efforts. If you don’t know where to begin or you feel you don’t have time? Simply give us a call and we will help you determine the best SMM strategies for your business and put them to work for you.