By Shannon Walker
Social Media Changing the Way We Do Business
Unlike our predecessors in commerce, the role of small business owner has significantly changed in terms of advertising. To gain market share and effectively engage customers; companies must take a social media approach to marketing. This means marketing to clients beyond normal business hours (8am to 5pm) and reaching new consumers beyond the doorstep of the business.
Why to Incorporate Social Media into Your Business Growth Strategy
First, social media marketing offers an avenue for multi-directional conversations with customers on a personal basis. Facebook illustrates a great example of how this interaction works. My hairstylist started a Facebook page for her business. She gives her clients her business card with information to find her on Facebook. Why would her customers want to check out her Facebook page? Simple. There are several hairstyle photo galleries including New Hairdo’s hot on the scene, Wedding and Other Special Occasion Hairdo’s and client Hairdo’s. The client hairdo’s are also posted by her clients. Her clients will tag her as their hairstylist, which links entire client network back to the hairstylist. It’s brilliant! And you know what? The new customers produced from this interaction are a warm sell. They have already seen the results of a satisfied client.
Secondly, Social media provides asynchronous communication. It does not require both parties to be present. For example, your last appointment left early and you have a few minutes to follow up with a potential client. Great! Instead of calling on the phone unsure of the time commitment you just made, you can zip onto Twitter and type a message (no longer than 140 characters) to find out how things are going. Can you imagine? What a quick way to stay in touch with your clients.
Third, social media offers small businesses the means to perform large scale Research and Development (R&D) for new and potential products. Let’s say that you are interested in carrying XYZ brand of Golfballs, however, you are unsure of their popularity. Why not check Twitter? Type #Golfballs or #XYZbrand which will give you what people think of that particular product throughout the world.
Finally, social media breaks traditional borders that normally would limit new client growth. For example, I recently found a new customer through a social networking site that is interested in a product (still in development). This new client is on a completely different continent! This is not unheard of; however, what provided a competitive edge over someone else offering similar web-based services was my ability to personalize our interaction and answer questions that general website information and auto responders do not offer.
These are just a few of the advantages social media marketing has to offer small businesses. Social media allows you to break into extended client networks without being overbearing. Instead, the contact becomes a natural progression. This progression happens 24 hours a day 7 days a week—while you are sleeping your comments are being read. In addition, social media provides cost effective avenues to find out how new products will be received and how current products are performing.
Overall, social media marketing is equivalent to the transformation from the Industrial Age into the Information Age. In the Social Media Age, it is not just about how we use data. It is about humanizing our relationship with our clients while using technology.
