I read that more than 260,000 small businesses in the US and
Canada employ social networking tactics, according to a study by
Sage Software and AMI-Partners. The TwinEngines'
customer base of small and mid-market companies participating in
the manufacturing value chain, has in the past, always pointed out
to me that only the larger companies can afford to experiment with
social media. What I am finding is that actually companies of
all sizes benefit from using social media tactics.
What the study found was that small companies are using LinkedIn
the most, followed by Facebook, and then job sites and niche
community sites. The top reasons they are
using social media are for customer service,
networking and educational purposes. Responding to customer
questions, promoting product launches, advertising the benefits of
products are being accomplished with social media
strategies.
We talked recently at a local Atlanta technology association
(TAG) gathering how companies need to consider 2 often overlooked
factors when deciding to employ social media. One is
differences in generation. Younger people will more likely
participate and benefit from social media interaction.
The other is a person's temperament - whether introverted or
extroverted. If you want to share and spread knowlege
among co-workers, then experience shows that social media
allows introverts a way to participate comfortably. The
company benefits, because otherwise the knowledge stays locked up
in the employee.
Considering education and knowledge transfer within a small,
mid-market company: if all your employees are extroverted,
aging baby-boomers, then perhaps social media may not make a
difference. Considering marketing, advertising, customer
service: same thing if all your customers, suppliers and
vendors are in the same demographic.
When marketing on social media platforms, Ad Age
offered these tips:
- Track sales made on social media.
- Don't use Twitter as Facebook (and vice versa).
- Create a conversation with friends and followers.
- Sell last-minute inventory.
- Alert followers to changes.
An example of a great way for an eBusiness to offer
promotions, is a Twitter promotion for that day, only.
Direct people to your eCommerce website with the promotion on
Twitter and track the results of the coupon promotion.