Social Media for Small Business

Social media is like a grassroots movement for small business owners. With different social media sites tailoring to different niches, small business owners can zero in on their exact target market. But the beauty of social media sites is the ease of reaching hundreds more potential customers who reside on the fringes of the target market. It's the digital equivalent to word-of-mouth advertising.

Social Media Start-ups

When the recent recession hit, many people lost their jobs and decided to make a change. The number of new start-up businesses exploded and many agree the catalyst was social media. Because social media allows small businesses owners an effective way to advertise and build brand loyalty and awareness without the price tag associated with an advertising or marketing firm, social media is known as the electronic version of word-of-mouth advertising. Removing that barrier to entry has allowed many small businesses to thrive in a down economy.

Digital Word-of-Mouth with Social Media

In a country where consumerism is the name of the game, many people are turned off by overt sales pitches and obvious infringements by enterprises hawking their wares. People are forced to watch commercials on television and listen to radio commercials, flip past ads in magazines and newspapers, and ignore billboards. But when people hop online to their favorite social media site, they don't mind interacting with their favorite companies. This method of marketing is often seen as more interactive and less intrusive than traditional methods. Because people are actively clicking on a business's page, clicking "like" to follow that company or subscribing to that business's tweets, the act is seen as being initiated by the consumer and not the company. People are more receptive to marketing via social media than other methods.

In addition to direct interaction with companies, the crux of social media marketing lies in the digital version of word-of-mouth advertising. One person "likes" a business's page, which shows up in all of that person's friends' newsfeeds. Also, alerts down the side column of the page show which friends have "liked" which companies. Positive association with a company based on friends' approval combined with humans' inherent desire to fit in are two major incentives for more friends to "like" a company's page. Multiply this by 150, the typical social media network user's average number of friends, and the increase in a business's followers is infinite.

Social Media Give-Away Contests

An effective advertising option with social media sites is the ever-popular giveaway. Many large businesses offer giveaways that require entry through its social media page. Small businesses are also taking advantage of this phenomenon by requiring a "like" in exchange for an entry. This is a great way to increase potential advertising audience without increasing the marketing budget. In this way, the playing field is leveled between large enterprises and small businesses on social media sites.

Social Media is Better than Paid Advertising

Social media is better than paid advertising in many ways. Even in our consumerist culture, we become desensitized to the inundation of ads and commercials. But when a friend posts about a great little company and that great service or product, people listen. It's no different than getting recommendations from your neighbor, relative or friend in real life.

In fact, social media marketing is so effective that many advertising and marketing companies have separate departments dedicated to social media. Companies create a presence on a social media site and often hire professionals to create engaging content. It's another opportunity to form a brand identity. But the benefit of social media over traditional advertising is that social media networking can be done by anyone, from the small business owner to the small business owner's college-aged relative to professional marketing firms. The availability to all sizes of businesses appeals to not only small businesses but to consumers as well.