Six Reasons to Use Social Media for Small Business

Social media is a way to get more exposure for your business.  If you haven't experimented with it — you should consider it now. 

Here are six reasons why: 

1) Your customers spend a lot of time there. The time Americans are spending on social networks, forums and blogging sites accounts for 33 percent of all time spent on the Internet (Source: Neilsen). People spend more time on social networks than reading email. And the average user connects to 80 community pages, groups and events on Facebook alone. We are spending so much time there we've come to almost expect any company we search for to show up in the results.   

Think about these scenarios:

• Countless social conversations and searches query over where to go for dinner,  what movie to see, what is there to do in the city, who can recommend a good dry cleaner, etc.  If you're not there on Yelp, or Facebook, or even Patch.com, when that active query is going on, you can bet your competitor will be.   
• When is the last time you saw someone using the paper phone book? Social digital directories and social forums are fast supplanting the physical Yellow Pages as the primary way we look for services. But say someone does use the phone book. Does your business phone give a busy signal? Does someone always answer? Do you have a reliable answering service? Is your website up to date? The last thing you want is a frustrated customer who is going to share their experience on social media like Twitter. Get presence at minimum with social directory listings on sites like Yelp, Patch, Citysearch, etc. Do searches online for your product category and see what sites comes up, then do what you can to add or enhance your listing.  And if you have customers that love you, get in the habit of asking them to post a review for you.   

2) It's free.  This is especially great if you don't already have a website.  For example, Facebook could provide an alternative place for you to actually have your web presence.  They provide tools to help you build a nice presence right from the site.  This link can help you get started. There are also many templates now on the internet. If your product is complicated, you can even include video to help your customers see how it works (for example, whole-house energy testing companies could show a video to display how they put that big thing in the door that sucks all the air out).

If you already have other marketing channels in place, then there are other great ways to integrate social media onto what you're currently doing.  For example, if you are running newspaper ads, or directory listings, be sure and add "see us on Facebook" or links back to your social channels.

3)   It’s real time.  One of the reasons social media is so popular is because it's immediate. Twitter and Facebook tell us what our friends and people we admire are thinking, and showing us what they are doing....right as they think or do it.  This environment of immediacy can work in your favor. Maybe it's a slow day for sales, the restaurant is half full, or you just got a new product in you want to promote. You can spontaneously get the word out to advertise instead of waiting longer to push your message through more traditional means like newspaper, direct mail or radio.  

4) It extends your brand. Facebook, for example, is a good way to build awareness and allow your current and future subscribers to interact with your brand. Open an account and publicize it on your website. Many people will become a fan, which posts your web site on their Facebook news feed for their friends to see.

Be mindful that it takes time to build your audience and keep the content fresh. If you choose to participate, make a concerted effort to do it right. It’s about engagement: keep it interesting, interactive, newsworthy, relevant and give them a reason to return often to involve themselves with your brand.

Think about what has made your business successful. Is it your customer service? Your one-of-a-kind fudge pie dessert, your Saturday 3 for 1 specials? What sets you apart from your competitors?   Build your engagement plan around that.  You have an opportunity to get to know your customers more directly, and react with immediacy to what they want to keep them satisfied.

For example the local gym  (on Facebook here) does a good job of extending their brand on Facebook. They really strive to be a community center as much as they are a fitness center.  Recent posts range from:
-providing fitness tips (relevant extension of the core offering with fresh updates to keep fans coming back for more) to
-extending congratulations to a customer that just turned 90 years old (loyal customer recognition) to
-answering a question about the drop-in fees (providing alternate means to getting business questions answered) to
-promoting a fundraiser for Japan (caring philanthrophy that says we are not just in this to turn a buck). 

Not only do they "feed" their Facebook posts live to their website, but the posts themselves all extend their core brand.

5) Its "Viral"  If you run a small business, its very likely you rely heavily on word-of-mouth or "viral" means to grow your business.   The very nature of word of mouth is exactly why social media is such a great tool in your marketing toolbox.   While you may not get 125 million views on YouTube like Rebecca Black's "Friday" Video, if your customer has a good experience, it's likely he'll share it with his friends or perhaps post a review for you.  A good portion of Facebook and Twitter posts are actually about BRANDS and products.  You can regularly check to see what's being said about you by using the search tools on Twitter.   

6) It enhances your search engine ranking.  This is simple. The more links and postings there are to your business on the internet, the more likely you are increasing your search results ranking.  I did a simple Google search just now for "Salon South San Francisco".  Seven salons were listed naturally under "places," but the first actual listing was for Crimpers Bizarre Salon. Why them? Because they have 15 reviews in Yelp. Again, ask your customers to post reviews for you. Then add your most popular business listings to all of your branded presence (your website, your blog, your email newsletter, and even your email signature.

Still not convinced?  Well, if you're not up for offense then think defense. If you’re not at least monitoring what's being said about your business online, you are losing an opportunity to react and control the perception left about it. Remember "viral" can work both in a positive and negative direction. If a customer posts a bad review, it can definitely affect your future business. Try to keep track of all reviews and respond back to reviewers.  The best course of action is to monitor anything written about you, and if you find a negative review, reach out to try and understand its origin and try to make the next experience for that customer a good one.