With so many social media to choose from, how do you pick the ones that are right for your small business?
The answer is simple. First determine the marketing objectives you want to achieve. Then think about the people with whom you want to hold conversations - and what you want to talk with them about. Next, think about the information that you have to share. Is it text only? Do you have photos? Sound files? Video?
Once you know these things, you can select the most effective combination of social media by knowing the types that are available.
Here's a simple run down of social media types useful to small businesses:
Communities: Make friends and hold conversations with other people. These can be general or specific in topic and audience. Facebook and MySpace are general examples. LinkedIn and Mamasource are topic-specific.
Communication: You start the conversation by sharing information with others, who can then comment upon it. Popular examples are Blogspot and Typepad. Twitter is an example of micro-blogging, where posts are limited to 140 characters. YouTube is an example of multi-media communication.
Reviews: Users tell other users what they think about your business. Popular examples are Yelp and epinion.
Events: Users form groups online and hold live events based on shared interests and geographic location. Meetup is an example.
Commerce: Some might argue that these are not true social media, but do they allow self-publishing, communication, and selling of goods. Ebay is a general example and Etsy is a specific example.
Again, there are loads of social media out there. Once you know what you want to achieve and who you want to talk with, you can find the right mix of social media that will work to get the results you want.
Look for tomorrow's post: what should I say?
2.28.2010
2.26.2010
simple example
Betty's Bubbles is a small company that creates limited batch, custom created soaps based on seasonal ingredients. Betty wants to sell more bars of soap. She creates a Facebook fan page where she gathers fans whom she continually shows and tells about her new seasonal soaps. She also uses her Facebook fan page as a way to tell people about her upcoming art fair show dates and gather fan feedback on her products. Betty also keeps a blog (like this one) where she can tell her fans about how she gardens the ingredients she uses, her 100-year old soap making process, and other interesting posts that reinforce the fact that she is an expert soap maker. Betty also creates an account on Etsy where her fans and blog readers can instantly buy her soaps online after reading about them. She also posts a request on her blog and Facebook fan page for her customers to review her soaps on Yelp, so more people can find out about her and her boutique.
simple social media intro
If using social media is creating one-to-many conversations with customers and potential customers - and their friends - online, how do you hold those conversations? By using social media websites and technologies.
Social media all provide the ability to communicate in text, pictures and/or video via the Internet. Social media can reach people on their computers or their web enabled mobile phones. Social media allow instant online publishing of content without requiring design or programming knowledge. Social media can be used alone or combined.
The majority of social media are free to use.
From a marketing perspective, the most important characteristic of social media is that it allows you to push information to interested people, who can then easily comment upon that information, act upon the information and share the information with their friends.
For small businesses, the options of social media and which to use can be overwhelming. Just remember to keep it simple.
The social media you choose to use should be based on:the type of business you own the types of conversations you want to hold the marketing objectives you want to achieve
Look for tomorrow's post: social media most useful to small businesses.
Social media all provide the ability to communicate in text, pictures and/or video via the Internet. Social media can reach people on their computers or their web enabled mobile phones. Social media allow instant online publishing of content without requiring design or programming knowledge. Social media can be used alone or combined.
The majority of social media are free to use.
From a marketing perspective, the most important characteristic of social media is that it allows you to push information to interested people, who can then easily comment upon that information, act upon the information and share the information with their friends.
For small businesses, the options of social media and which to use can be overwhelming. Just remember to keep it simple.
The social media you choose to use should be based on:
Look for tomorrow's post: social media most useful to small businesses.
2.23.2010
you already do it
Using social media is simple. It's inexpensive. It's something that, as a small business owner, you already do every day.
It's also something that the big companies are only just beginning to figure out, giving you an advantage.
Simply put, using social media is creating one-to-many conversations with customers and potential customers - and their friends - online.
With time those conversations grow into relationships, which grow into business advantages such as a greater awareness of your company, new customer referrals, and repeat sales to existing customers.
It's exciting because, lacking huge advertising budgets, that's the way small businesses have always had to work. On reputation, word of mouth, referral, and reviews.
Only now, social media enables you to have those conversations not only with just those customers who come into your shop, showroom, garage or factory, but with interested people - and their friends - from the other side of town. From the other side of the state. From across the country and even around the world.
So you get this incredible reach for literally a fraction of the cost of any other broadcast media. In fact, with a little guidance, most companies can even DIY their own social media.
After twelve years experience creating interactive marketing for clients such as P&G, General Mills, and the State of Michigan, my goal for simple is simple: Show small businesses what social media is, how it can help your business, why you already know how to do it, and most importantly, why it is not just for the big guys.
Look for tomorrow's post: the simple social media intro
It's also something that the big companies are only just beginning to figure out, giving you an advantage.
Simply put, using social media is creating one-to-many conversations with customers and potential customers - and their friends - online.
With time those conversations grow into relationships, which grow into business advantages such as a greater awareness of your company, new customer referrals, and repeat sales to existing customers.
It's exciting because, lacking huge advertising budgets, that's the way small businesses have always had to work. On reputation, word of mouth, referral, and reviews.
Only now, social media enables you to have those conversations not only with just those customers who come into your shop, showroom, garage or factory, but with interested people - and their friends - from the other side of town. From the other side of the state. From across the country and even around the world.
So you get this incredible reach for literally a fraction of the cost of any other broadcast media. In fact, with a little guidance, most companies can even DIY their own social media.
After twelve years experience creating interactive marketing for clients such as P&G, General Mills, and the State of Michigan, my goal for simple is simple: Show small businesses what social media is, how it can help your business, why you already know how to do it, and most importantly, why it is not just for the big guys.
Look for tomorrow's post: the simple social media intro
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