Social Media: Marketing Considerations for Small Business

It’s clear that social media marketing has grown dramatically over the last few years and that with an increase of than 800 million active users, the quantity of Facebook users is easily a lot more than twice the size of the complete population of america!

Its growth has been astronomical now, millions of people are posting more personal and business information online than previously. It’s happening at lightning speed with thousands of posts, tweets and uploads occurring every hour.

Recent research conducted by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) commissioned by Sensis Pty Ltd (May 2011, p. 10) indicates, that “62% of Australian Internet surfers use a variety of social media marketing sites, with many visiting every day and most at least a few times a week.” It’s no real surprise that with the millions of prospective customers from around the world using these sites, every day, that so many businesses are determined to include social media into their marketing mix. Nonetheless it also important to get a knowledge of how these sites are increasingly being used and what’s involved in maintaining or resourcing your organization presence on these sites. Your online footprint can stick around for a long period so don’t underestimate how this may affect the perception of your brand on the market place. Spend some time upfront thinking about whether social media is right for the business.

1. Seek first to comprehend – It is very important that you understand the basics of how is social media actually works and how it’s used. What exactly are people and businesses doing with social media? What gets them results? A few of you may be thinking, how do you do this? Perhaps you could consider trying it out for yourself by setting up a personal account, then testing a few of the features, or get a trusted friend to show you their account and show you through. Alternatively you can find so many resources and ‘how to’ items online about social media marketing, that you could run a search on Google or on YouTube on a particular topic of interest and watch the video tutorials to obtain informed.

2. Understand Social Media Marketing firm – What’s your purpose is for using social media marketing? What do you hope to achieve for your business by using it? It’s really essential that you identify your purpose so you can get involved in social media (or any other marketing activity for that matter). You need to workout why you are engaging. What do you be prepared to achieve? Do you simply want to build brand awareness, build relationships your visitors or identify new sales opportunities? Remember to be realistic about what you believe you will be able to attain.

3. If you decide to take part in social media marketing, which sites are best for you personally? – With the plethora of social media sites available, which ones are best for the business? Consider where your target audience would socialize online, and think about the amount of time and resources you would realistically be able to invest in maintaining and administering your website presence. Those are right for you? You will probably find that some certainly are a better fit than others.

4. Quality Content – In the event that you decide that social media is right for the business, carefully think about the amount and quality of information you would like to share in the web sphere. Remember it’ll probably stay there for a long period, so you must make sure it accurate and reliable information that’s valuable to your target audience. It has to be relevant, otherwise people won’t read it.