Small Business Meets Social Media

Thanks to Jason Fallis for the inspiration! A recent post of Jason’s hammered home a point that I’ve defended for ever:  social media application has the highest potential in the small business sector. Here’s why:

1. Social media requires being social. The best examples of organizations who succeed in the space are those who make a concerted, personal effort to connect with their audience. In small business social media initiatives, we see something that we don’t in corporate: often times, it is the founder or CEO who sits down to write that blog post or respond to that forum question. Imagine the level of trust you can build with your audience when they know their question is being tended to by the CEO of an organization.

2. 75% of corporate social media initiatives fail. Do you know why? They’re seen as a pathetic attempt to enter a space that’s yielding some pretty incredible results. Small business’s have the opportunity to conduct free market research, build relationships with members of their target audience and build brand awareness with a group of people who are specifically interested in what their speciality (MY vs. MASS marketing).

3. Small business doesn’t have to go through 30 levels of clearance to get a blog post approved.

4. Small business’s are viewed less skeptically by people in the space (i.e. less about sales).

5. The opportunity to reach a global audience with a $0 ad budget.

With platforms like Word Press, small business owners can even build their own websites. It has never been easier to reach your target audience.

~ by Brandon Carlos on October 28, 2008.