By Stacey Ackerman, MA
When social media came out a few years ago, it was thought of as a distraction or something that teens did to constantly update friends on their whereabouts.
While social media still has its “social” place in our society, it has become a major component to most companies’ marketing departments. But the good news is that it’s a medium that small business owners can be just as comprehensive and sophisticated with as large companies.
To be effective at using social media, you must define what you are trying to accomplish. Social media is an effective tool for personal branding, finding sales leads, promoting an event, engaging existing customers and searching for employees or business partners.
Personal branding
If you are a consultant or service business, personal branding can significantly boost your credibility. Join groups on LinkedIn whose members make up your target market. Then utilize the news articles sections of these groups to post articles that you have either written or that demonstrate your knowledge in your industry. It only takes a few minutes to upload your articles. Better yet, post your articles to your web site so prospects have to visit your site and learn about your company to read more. You can also share your expertise by posting PowerPoint presentations on your LinkedIn profile.
Sales leads
While social media doesn’t replace in-person networking, it does open up your access to far more people than you could physically meet. Before even jumping into social media for sales leads, take some time to write your “top 10” prospect list. If you know the top 10 companies you are trying to do business with you will eventually find them. Once you know who you are looking for, use LinkedIn to search your contacts. Do you know anyone who works at the company you are seeking? If not, check out your second and third tier connections. When you run across someone who has an affiliation, use the “introduction” feature to get connected with that prospect. Your sales leads will be much stronger when you can pro-actively identify who you are seeking, rather than waiting for someone to find you.
Promoting an event
All social media sites are great for promoting an event. Facebook works best for a business-to-consumer event, while LinkedIn is great for business-to-business events. Twitter can work well in both situations, depending on whether your target audience is utilizing that medium.
Engaging existing customers
For consumer-oriented businesses, Facebook can be a great place to get your loyal customers to become “fans”. Create a group page for your business and keep it not only active, but interactive. Allow customers to comment about your business and share stories with their “friends”.
Searching for employees or business partners
By looking at your network, you can often seek out the type of people you want to hire or that will make great strategic partners to complement your business. Be noteworthy of the type of person you are looking for and carefully read profiles to find a match. If your immediate network doesn’t produce results, ask people in your network if they have someone in mind. I recently found a food photographer for a client through my LinkedIn network. Instead of randomly searching the web, it’s a lot easier to get referrals from people you trust.
If you’re not yet comfortable with the many ways your small businesses can benefit from social media, there are plenty of classes available. Since it’s such a new phenomenon, you can quickly become an expert. The best strategy is to understand what you want to get out of social media—then don’t hesitate to dive in!
Stacey Ackerman, MA, is the director of Marketing for Small Business Builders. She has helped numerous small business owners grow their business by creating practical, affordable growth strategies that work. She can be reached at sackerman@smallbusinessbuilders.com or 651-783-5763.
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