Many small businesses realize there is “something” about social media and online marketing, but are more hesitant in this arena than others. Today, at 5WPR my PR agency, social media is an integral part of any PR plan.
The Ami-Partners research group reported the results of a study they conducted under the title “U.S. Small Business Marketing Activity and Spending Study: Where and How U.S. Small Businesses are Spending Marketing Dollars”. Social media in these businesses is under the responsibility of the existing marketing division and staff. The greatest implication is the time resource these staffers and managers lack, which directly impedes on any possible social media planning and implementation.
But there is a stronger factor kicking in: the economic downturn. AMI predicts that an acceleration of U.S. small business social media marketing adoption is expected. Budgets and good adaptive character are not enough.
There are millions of small businesses. If they all rendered at social media like advertising savages we’d lose the whole point of “social” and would merely be left with “media”, – as simple as any other familiar media till now. Social media was not meant to be an advertising and aggressive-marketing channel. There is more than enough TV for that.
For an effective adaptation by small businesses to social media, there is a need to check things out step by step – as small as these steps may be. Here is some insight:
· Don’t fall into the temptation of selling through your social media channels. Yes, people are present – but they’re tuned out of advertising slogans. To get a sense of social media is about – even for your business pages – go back to your own private profile and skim through your connection’s posts. How often do you see people selling each other products or services? What you witness is conversation and virtual interaction. Start a relatively private conversation with your followers, be a little informal about what they feel/read/know of your service
· It is highly recommended that you designate a person, team, division – depending on your business size – for the new media planning and implementation. It requires and deserves a special attention and consideration. Yes, it can include different marketing initiatives that go on occasionally – but not necessarily. As you become more new media adept you will find out that marketing models on social media are based on totally different “rules” that those more traditional ones you are used to even from recent innovations like direct email marketing. People have different expectations.
· Reflect some of your daily thoughts and whereabouts. People need to be reminded that behind every Facebook business fan page, every twitter profile, and every business-based YouTube page there is a person, not a “bot”. The best way to show that is to share something “human” like your feeling out of a meeting, a hectic day, a curios question regarding other people’s opinions.
Engage your audience, accept and expect feedback and reactions, encourage debate and product-related discussions. Whatever you do – start small, start authentic, start today.
Ronn Torossian is president and CEO of 5WPR. Named to the “40 under 40” list of PR Week & Advertising Age, Ronn Torossian was a semi-finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and may be reached at Rtorossian@5wpr.com and followed on twitter @rtorossian5wpr
SOURCE http://www.jewocity.com/blog/author/ronn_torossian
The Ami-Partners research group reported the results of a study they conducted under the title “U.S. Small Business Marketing Activity and Spending Study: Where and How U.S. Small Businesses are Spending Marketing Dollars”. Social media in these businesses is under the responsibility of the existing marketing division and staff. The greatest implication is the time resource these staffers and managers lack, which directly impedes on any possible social media planning and implementation.
But there is a stronger factor kicking in: the economic downturn. AMI predicts that an acceleration of U.S. small business social media marketing adoption is expected. Budgets and good adaptive character are not enough.
There are millions of small businesses. If they all rendered at social media like advertising savages we’d lose the whole point of “social” and would merely be left with “media”, – as simple as any other familiar media till now. Social media was not meant to be an advertising and aggressive-marketing channel. There is more than enough TV for that.
For an effective adaptation by small businesses to social media, there is a need to check things out step by step – as small as these steps may be. Here is some insight:
· Don’t fall into the temptation of selling through your social media channels. Yes, people are present – but they’re tuned out of advertising slogans. To get a sense of social media is about – even for your business pages – go back to your own private profile and skim through your connection’s posts. How often do you see people selling each other products or services? What you witness is conversation and virtual interaction. Start a relatively private conversation with your followers, be a little informal about what they feel/read/know of your service
· It is highly recommended that you designate a person, team, division – depending on your business size – for the new media planning and implementation. It requires and deserves a special attention and consideration. Yes, it can include different marketing initiatives that go on occasionally – but not necessarily. As you become more new media adept you will find out that marketing models on social media are based on totally different “rules” that those more traditional ones you are used to even from recent innovations like direct email marketing. People have different expectations.
· Reflect some of your daily thoughts and whereabouts. People need to be reminded that behind every Facebook business fan page, every twitter profile, and every business-based YouTube page there is a person, not a “bot”. The best way to show that is to share something “human” like your feeling out of a meeting, a hectic day, a curios question regarding other people’s opinions.
Engage your audience, accept and expect feedback and reactions, encourage debate and product-related discussions. Whatever you do – start small, start authentic, start today.
Ronn Torossian is president and CEO of 5WPR. Named to the “40 under 40” list of PR Week & Advertising Age, Ronn Torossian was a semi-finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and may be reached at Rtorossian@5wpr.com and followed on twitter @rtorossian5wpr
SOURCE http://www.jewocity.com/blog/author/ronn_torossian
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