3 ways social media will impact your small business

7/31/2019 3 Ways Social Media Will Impact Your Small Business

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2/93 Ways Social Media Will Impact Your Small Business biz.hutzelmedia.com

INTRODUCTION

New technology can quickly go rom being trendy, to immensely popular, to

becoming a staple. At that point, it becomes dangerous to ignore.

Social media denitely alls into that category and while using social media or your

small business isnt required, you would be ignoring it at your own risk.

Remember when engaging customers on Facebook or witter was optional? Dont

worry i you cant, its dicult or the rest o us to remember as well. It was certainly

a long time ago.

While a lot o small businesses have embraced social media,many still have avoided it altogether. Starting out with

the best intentions, a number o small business owners

quickly become discouraged by the time it takes to

manage their social media, the technical aspects o it

or by not seeing immediate results rom their eorts.

Social media has transormed rom a way

or riends and amily to stay connected into a platorm

rom which interaction with both businesses and peers is preerred.

For better or or worse, social media will impact your small business in the

ollowing ways:

1. rust 2. Communication 3. Identity

Tis report will cover how these three elements will aect your business and how

to select a social media management system or your business that simplies the

process, allows you to save money by not hiring outside assistance and helps you

manage your time eectively so you can spend more o your day running your

business and less time in ront o a computer screen.
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SOCIAL MEDIA AND TRUST

People do business with companies they can trust. While there are a number o waysor businesses to build trust, ew are as inuential as an active social media presence.

Wheres Te Proo?

Social proo isnt a new concept. Weve always looked to the actions or behavior oothers as the correct response to a situation that is new or unamiliar to us. Whilethe mob mentality o assuming the majority is correct can be dangerous, it is apowerul tool that you can use to your advantage.

A combination o social media providing direct-access to businesses and anincreasing amount o consumers believing businesses are more interested in sales

than the customers themselves has given social proo a signicant role in yourcompanys success.

Engaging your customers through social media is the best way to establishsocial proo with both current and potential customers. Establishing an ongoingconversation with consumers allows them to express their praise, questions andconcerns without ear o censorship.

Many small business owners are apprehensive about ully engaging in social media

because they ear negative comments and potentially harsh reviews.

Although it is a legitimate concern, negative comments are ofen ew and arbetween and should be used as valuable eedback to improve things when necessary.

As odd as it may seem, embracing the occasional negative comment and respondingconstructively can signicantly boost your companys credibility.



SOCIAL MEDIA AND TRUST

Your Website Isnt Enough Anymore

Corporate websites are a undamental part o your companys online presence

and they serve essential unctions like displaying pertinent inormation relatedto contacting you, hours o operation, specials, etc. and providing in-depthinormation related to your services.

Nothing will be able to provide the exibility to convey that inormation as you seet like your corporate website can.

Unortunately, where corporate websites come up short is meeting customers needsto engage and communicate.

Tere is nothing wrong with using your companys website to make claims aboutthe unique eatures o your product or service. How else will potential customersinterested in your product oering know why they should do business with you?

It just shouldnt be the only component o your companys online presence.

Social media helps to break the ice so you and your customers can get to know eachother and develop a lasting, mutually-benecial relationship.

Te key to successully integrating social media into your operations is to use yourcorporate online presence in tandem with your social media presence.

Using these two elements that compliment each other in a tag-team approachensures youre serving your customers needs at every turn and are delivering acomplete experience.

Not maximizing social medias potential to establish trust with your customers and

leaving that job to your companys primary website is a risky move that usuallyresults in money being lef on the table. Which is something no business can aordto do.



SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION

Te lives o todays consumers are centeredaround convenience. As business owners, themore convenient we can make their lives,the better positioned we will be in theirminds.

Now that social media networks havebecome consumers preerred platormor communicating with companies,small businesses that dont have a socialmedia presence are subconsciouslycreating an inconvenience and it will

negatively impact the perception o yourbusiness.

Meet Customers Where Tey Are

Not only are corporate websites not the best way to establish trust with yourpotential customers, theyre also not the best or communicating directly with yourcustomers.

Depending upon the industry you operate in, it is usually uncommon or customersto visit your website afer the initial visit; even i they are interested in your brand.

Tey ofen choose to interact with your company through RSS eeds and othersocial media sites instead.

Its not that your website or business isnt interesting. Its that people spend theoverwhelming amount o their online time on social networking sites. So any timethey have to interrupt that experience in order to nd something on your site, it is

an inconvenience.

Instead o trying to ght the trend, small businesses have ound success by usingsocial media to drive trac back to their websites. Te trick is to go where thecustomers are and provide them with appealing content that will spark interest andcreate engagement in other areas.



SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION

Get Discovered

Having an active social media presence is also vital or communicating withpotential customers and those who may be unamiliar with your business.

Your social media eorts will pay dividends on your hard work by allowing thecustomers youve already won over to spread their love or you to their riends.

When considering the amount o money it would cost to market your message tothat person as a complete stranger and the number o times it would take or themto hear the message beore being convinced to purchase, who can really aord notto maximize their social media?

Having a lively and relevant social media presence places you in the mix o whatshappening and whats current.

Dont Get Le Out o the Conversation

People love to share their experiences with others. Its just our nature. Tis isespecially true or consumers.

As a result, word-o-mouth advertising is the

most substantial orm o marketing there is.

Because people trust the word o their riendsand other individuals who have experiencedsomething rst hand, social media has rapidlyenhanced word-o-mouths reach.

Tis ongoing conversation between consumersis taking place on local, national and global

levels and small businesses can even the playingeld with larger corporations by using socialmedia to display their unique eatures andindividual qualities.

Neglecting social media will essentially takeyour business out o the conversation.

Source: Experian Marketing Services2011 Social Media Consumer Report



SOCIAL MEDIA AND YOUR IDENTITY

Whether its true or not, having a lackluster social media presence will orce

customers to perceive you and your business as neglectul, lazy and not willing to

invest the time and energy necessary to engage with them.

We dont believe youre careless or neglectul when it comes to your business. Why

else would you be continually looking or ways to improve it (including reading this

report)?

However, that is exactly how potential customers will perceive your company to

be i they stumble upon your social media accounts that look like ghost towns.

Or worse yet, they come to nd out you dont have a Facebook an page, witteraccount, etc. or your business.

Does not sending a greeting card or an occasion mean you werent thinking or

didnt care about someone? O course not. But the gesture certainly serves as proo

that you did.

Tat is all todays customers are looking or: proo that you care. A major

misconception is that you must have a large ollowing on your social media sites in

order to be eective. Unless youre a global corporation or a celebrity, however, no

one realistically expects you to have 100,000+ ollowers on witter. So, relax.

Aside rom helping to establish trust and communicating directly with customers,

social media networks allow you to express your brands personality while leaving

the ormal duties to your corporate web site.

Customers that come across your social media proles beore visiting your

companys website (or perhaps without having even heard o your business), will

determine whether or not theyre interested in doing business with your company

based on the look, eel and quality o content on your proles and pages.



While the idea o managing your companys social

media on top o everything else may seem

overwhelming, you no longer have to strugglewith all o the elements that usually make the

process a burden.

Equipped with the proper tools and resources,

nding the best solution or your particular needs

is easier than ever beore.

When it comes to managing your small businesssocial media, there are a ew options available

including hiring a social media manager,

outsourcing the work entirely, hiring a consultant,

integrating third-party apps and doing it yoursel.

While the thought o outsourcing your companys

social media may be tempting, there are a ew

reasons to manage your own social media:

1. Maintain Control

Providing the account inormation to outside

individuals leaves you vulnerable to their credibility,

character, knowledge o your company, etc.

2. Staying rue to the Brand

No one knows your company better than you do. Hiring people unamiliarwith your brand can lead to a period o stagnation where the hired individual or

team is creating generic content while getting to know your brand.

3. Cost-Savings

Spreading the duties among a ew members o your sta can prevent the need to

hire a new employee just to manage your companys social media.

Source: Small Business Monitor/American Express OPEN

FINDING THE RIGHT SOLUTION
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Need assistance with managing your companys social media? Find a product that:

1. Is Cost-EfectiveA number o social media management systems and programs can cost hundreds

o dollars while consultants can cost signicantly more.

2. Ofers Continued Resources and Inormation (At No Extra Cost)

Consulting rms charge a rate or a xed amount o time. What i you have more

questions or need more sessions? Te costs can quickly add up.

3. Provides More Tan Just Cold, Hard Facts

Search or a program/product that makes potentially complex things easy to

understand so that managing things yoursel is not only possible, but ideal.

3 Ways Social Media Will Impact Your Small Business biz hutzelmedia com

Youve invested an abundance o time and resources to get your company this ar.Dont allow it to be lef behind by neglecting what will be viewed as a quick x inthe grand scheme o things.

Whichever route you choose to manage your social media presence, please makea serious eort to ully incorporate social media into your small business overallmarketing strategy.

Heres to a great 2012 and beyond or your business.

Sincerely,Hutzel Media Group

Business Resources Division

*****For more inormation, tips and guides on improving your business social mediacommunications and management, visit Hutzel Medias Business ResourcesDivision at biz.hutzelmedia.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

FINDING THE RIGHT SOLUTION

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3 ways social media will impact your small business

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