WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA REALLY MEANS TO SMALL BUSINESS
Contributed By: Bill Grunau, Circle of One Marketing
Not long ago many brushed off social media as a fad, distraction and even a waste of time; and now suddenly it is all the rage in the business community with everyone jumping on this “new” thing.
Social media isn’t really all that new. Facebook was launched in February 2004 and was originally Facesmash.com, which was launched in 2003. As of July 2010, Facebook had over 500 million users. LinkedIn.com was launched in 2003 with over 75 million users in 2010 and Twitter was launched in 2006 and now has over 160 million users worldwide.
The beginning of social media really dates back to blogs and chat rooms. In blogs, users used the Internet to post their journals and ideas and in chat rooms, groups met live online and discussed a variety of topics. Social media is the interactive Internet, also called Web 2.0. Early websites and internet use was effectively a one way billboard or advertisement to visitors. Web 2.0 takes the Internet to the next step – a social network where customers, visitors, groups and even strangers can interact.
So what is social media and what does it mean to small business?
Social media and Web 2.0 is literally the most important innovation for business since the telephone! Why do I say this? Before the telephone, businesses could only talk to customers in person at their location or by personally paying them a visit. The telephone changed this forever and allowed businesses to reach many more customers over much greater distances. Social media is having the same impact. Customer relationships over the past decades have shriveled up into automated phone systems where you can’t reach a human, and lead you to voicemail, and blind emails to corporate websites. While this has improved efficiency for businesses, it has left customers and brands completely disconnected. Social media is bringing companies closer to their customers and providing a new way for customers to interact with their favorite brands. For some great examples of customer-brand interaction visit the Coke, Starbucks and Redbull Facebook pages and you will see a lively discussion about the products, events, and sometimes complaints. Likewise, checkout @ComcastCares or @starbucks on Twitter to see real time interaction with customers. These are just a few examples of social media done right. There are many other examples of success stories as well as stories of companies who have not been able to thrive through this medium.
Those that mistake or confuse social media with the next advertising medium or channel are not only ignorant of what the medium is, they are headed for a marketing train wreck. Wal-Mart is a great example of an ongoing social media disaster as are several recent political campaigns. Somehow many only see the “media” part of the name and completely ignore the “social” part.
Perhaps the most important aspect of social media is that it has leveled the playing field for small businesses. Search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing now index information from Twitter, Facebook Fan pages, Blogs and LinkedIn. Foursquare, Yelp and other social networks are very much tailored for local businesses. Likewise, search engines now do local searches and rank local businesses accordingly. These social networks and geo-search features have effectively leveled the playing field for small and local businesses. With an active social media campaign your business can rank high on specific searches, it can engage your customers to develop brand loyalty, and it can maintain a constant dialog with your customers to stay up to date with what they want and what they think.
One quick example from our own work is Jazz in the Gardens. In 2010 we launched the Facebook page and grew it to 9,800 fans in less than four months. The fans have been very active even after the event was over and continue to talk about next year’s event. We also held a Tweet-Up at Jazz in the Gardens with hundreds of fans participating and tweeting live from the show.
This is just one example of the countless possibilities for social media in your business. Just remember, it is “social” media and it is all about interacting with authenticity with your customers and the public at large.
– Back to Fall 2010 Newsletter Index
