Brief Thoughts about Social Media for Small Businesses
By Gavin Head Social media can be an excellent marketing platform for small businesses, especially when it is used as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. I like to think of social media as another marketing tool that I can use to expand my reach and more deeply engage with customers and prospects. It is a terrific platform for broadcasting promotional offers and directing traffic to your website. But most people are unaware that it is also a great research tool- a way to find out what your customers and prospects want and monitor what is being said about your business, brands, products or services.
There are a number of ways social media can be used to either enhance or replace traditional methods or ways of doing business. It can be used for customer service, research, advertising to a more targeted audience, generating leads, building trust or getting digital coupons to your prospects to drive almost immediate business. At the very least social media should be used to supplement your traditional methods.
It takes time and a good strategy sprinkled in with some patience but for those disciplined to learn it and use it their efforts will pay off. Seek help from experts when you get stuck or need advice. Many firms and individuals offer social media marketing training for both basic and advanced users. If you are not comfortable setting up your social media profiles and optimizing them, hiring someone to do this for you can pay big dividends. And if you know that social media can benefit yourself or your business but don’t have the time or in house resources to do it effectively on your own, consider outsourcing it to a capable social media agency with the resources and expertise to get the most out of your social media presence possible.
Go Forth and Market Smartly!
About the Author: Gavin Head is a marketing professional and owner of 1st Position Marketing www.1stpositionmarketing.com. He specializes in marketing, branding and growing profitable small businesses through the power of smart marketing strategies and tactics- and uses social media daily. In addition to being a proactive, brand-building marketer Gavin serves as Client Advocate for Social Media Delivered.