The best way to get social with your customers and prospective customers is to find out where they’re hanging out on the internet and then join the conversation. Small businesses, or any business for that matter, do not need to be everywhere, just on the key social media sites where there are questions and lively conversations happening in their particular field. Identify where your target audience is online and then give, give, and give even more.

Are they talking on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn? Or are they on other niche community sites?

The point is to do some research and find out where your target audience is, and then go there. I won’t be going into great detail about all the different social media sites that are available because there are way too many. However, I will briefly mention Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, as they are three commonly used platforms.

Twitter is a great place to start to get a feel for how the conversations flow regarding any niche. They have a search feature, search.twitter.com, that will help to pinpoint specific keyword(s) and subjects so that you can track and/or look up your keywords and then enter the conversation on that topic.

Facebook can be a little more involved, as they have profile pages, groups, and fan pages, but it is another great place to create a brand identity and interact with your customers. You can ask questions and get great feedback with both of these social media sites.

LinkedIn, another contender in the social media arena, is considered by many as a professional networking site that is more business oriented. With a great exchange of ideas and lively interaction, it can be an insightful way to get the pulse of a niche or market group.

Of course, there are many, many more options, but the focus is to get in on the conversation regarding your small business product or service and then meet the needs of that conversation. Whether it is sought after information, how-to instructions or better pricing and packaging, join the conversation and provide solutions. Using social media as a tool, small businesses can capitalize on the existing interest or help raise the interest in just about any niche with a little research and some consistent dialog.

Peace & Prosperity,

P.S. Feel free to start a conversation in the comments section below.

It appears that the main reasons small businesses may be reluctant to really dive in with a solid social media marketing plan has to do with time and know how.  Social media can be time consuming to maintain, especially as there are so many different social media sites and communities online.  It could feel like a never ending rollercoaster ride to try and keep up with all of the latest and greatest sites and applications.

Also, with so many social media sites, it can be intimidating to know where to start and how to integrate them into a cohesive marketing campaign.  Small businesses may be in a bind to hire a social media consultant to formulate and carry out an effective social media strategy for money reasons.  They are, after all, small businesses.

Implementing a social media marketing strategy into your overall business marketing plan is not that difficult if approached in the right manner. To start with, the business has to know what it is they hope to achieve by entering the social media arena.  It may be helpful to know that in a recent survey by MarketingSherpa of social network users with more than 500 connections, the top reason that they ‘friended’ or followed a brand or company online was to be first in line to hear about specials and sales.  Other top reasons included, to learn about new products, features or services and to get to know the company.

Knowing this, it would be foolish for small businesses not to include social media in their online marketing plan.  Don’t overlook this obvious but business boosting small business marketing tip: use social media.  However, avoid the temptation of joining every social networking site online.  Start by first formulating a social media marketing plan and then meet your social consumer where they hang out.  Getting to know  how your business can best use the social media tools of your target audience’s choice will not only boost your business but also build relationships – the core to consumer loyalty.

Peace & Prosperity,

Additional key social media usage highlights reported by SBSI:

• 75% surveyed have a company page on a social networking site
• 61% use social media for identifying and attracting new customers
• 57% have built a network through a site like LinkedIn
• 45% expect social media to be profitable in the next twelve months

So if you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur who has yet to take advantage of the social media technologies available to you on the internet . . . it’s time you reconsidered.  For the purpose of business growth and profits, it’s no longer a question of “Should I be using social media?” but rather . . . “How can I best use social media to serve my customers and target audience?”

When considering which social media platform(s) to use, bear in mind that it’s all about your customers.  Forget about what you like best or where you’re the most comfortable.  And don’t think you have to have a presence on every social media platform available. To get the most from your social media marketing efforts, you need to determine what your customers are open to and meet them where they’re at.

If for example, you create a twitter account, and your customers are all on Facebook, the return on your social media marketing efforts will not be as productive as they could be.  Since not everyone uses social media in the same way, it’s important to first find out how YOUR audience uses social media and then develop social media marketing strategies specific to your target market.

So how does your business use social media?


Peace & Prosperity,

P.S. If you’re at all confused about how to leverage the power of social media, let High Profits Marketing do the job for you. Whether you do it yourself or outsource it, just do it!