Why Your Small Business Need a #SocialMedia Marketing Strategy

In an age in which the Internet has asserted its prominence on everything, from the economy to politics and mass communication, a small business needs to be present online to engage customers and increase sales in the long term.

But the idea is not just to have a website, maybe a social media account, and just hope that everything will work just fine, profit-wise.

If you are a small-business owner, you need more than that. You need a clear, well-formulated social media marketing strategy that defines who your target customers are, what their needs and wants are, what pricing they can afford, and what the competition is doing.

Read our top 10 reasons why a small business – and any company, for that matter – needs an effective social media marketing strategy.

1. The Competition Is Doing It

First and foremost, your business must be present on social media because your competitors are there.

We are not talking about your local rivals only. We are referring to the global web of players in your industry, which makes your business a potential competitor for a company based, say, in China or Brazil.

Dennis Yao, a Harvard Business School strategy expert, points out that business and industry need to effectively embark on the Internet and social media bandwagon to expect profitability in the short term, but also in the long term.

In other words, as a business owner, you should have a social media marketing strategy, not because it will make more profitable, but because it will help your business survive, say, in the next, 12 to 18 months.

2. Traditional Marketing Is No Longer Effective

Traditional marketing, the kind you do while focusing on the 4 Ps, is no longer effective. 4Ps stands for product, price, promotion and place (of distribution).

For example, you don’t necessarily need to distribute your products in local supermarkets as long as your online presence is strong. Also, you don’t need to promote on local TV and radio, again, as long as you have a social media page that resonates.

In the Internet age, economic trends move by leaps and bounds, so you risk losing out if your traditional marketing strategy doesn’t adapt fast and effectively to emerging trends.

Antony Young, a branding and social media expert, explains this concept excellently when he talks about adaptive marketing, or the ability to be in sync with current industry trends and personalize client communications.

3. The Internet Expands Your Target Audience

Needless to say, the Internet expands your business’ target audience. When it comes to potential clientele, you are no longer relegated to the city, metropolis or region where your business is located.

Now you can play on the global stage.

By establishing an effective social media marketing strategy, you appeal to prospects beyond your national borders, which makes your company automatically global even though you operate, for example, from your basement or a small, three-office building somewhere in rural Indiana.

4. Social Media Boost Your Pricing Tactics

With a solid media marketing strategy, you can adapt prices as often as possible, while varying the platform. You can segment your potential market, setting one price, for example, on Facebook and Twitter, while establishing another price for LinkedIn and Google+.

Note that all these things can be automated with apps, either integrated on your social media pages or embedded on servers run by third parties.

5. Your Promo Will Be Better

With a strong social media presence, you increase your sales and brand appeal exponentially, because you not only have an expanded potential clientele and an adaptive pricing formula, you also have a chance to run multiple promos, all the time.

This is very crucial for any small business, especially if it operates in a crowded sector, such as consumer goods or holiday traveling.

For Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, the formula is simple: “Go digital or go home.” For your business to survive, you have to be online. 

6. There Is a Chance to Engage Customers and Fans

You can engage customers and fans more often with an astute social media strategy. You can make one, two or three posts on a daily basis, so that followers know you business is vibrant.

You can make the posting weekly, but just make sure you post content that is relevant and improves the lives of your followers and fans.

7. The Internet Offers More Distribution Channels

With a shrewd social media marketing strategy, you can say goodbye to the distribution and logistical nightmares that a traditional small business typically has.

If you properly formulate your marketing strategy, you can partner with online retailers to sell your products directly to the end customer, either from their sites or from your social media pages. Retailers like Amazon and eBay offer these kinds of services.

8. You Receive Instant Feedback

One of the good things with social media is that you receive instant feedback. You know if your marketing strategy is working – by reviewing, for example, the number of “likes” and shares as well as comments on Facebook, or the number of retweets and favorites on Twitter.

That promptness is welcome because you can fix potential issues in real time, rather than later when you already incur a costly mistake.

9. Your Business Can Ride on the Zeitgeist

For linguists and behavioral economists, “zeitgeist” means the defining mood or spirit at a particular moment. For social media experts, zeitgeist is what makes a product, service or content viral.

You can boost your business by adapting your promo, products or content to current trends.

On Facebook, for example, pay attention to “What’s Trending Now” to understand what users are reading, viewing and talking about at a specific moment.

10.  Your Other Platforms Can Benefit From Social Media Success

Besides the many benefits we listed earlier, a well-defined social media marketing strategy can positively impact your other online platforms. It can drive traffic to your company’s website, raise readership for your blog, and increase the number of downloads of your app. Just make sure your website and social media pages have responsive design, meaning they can be viewed and accessed easily via devices as diverse as smart phones, tablets, laptops and desktops.

Summary

Social media are here to stay, so the earlier you adapt your traditional marketing strategy to these new media, the better.

When formulating your online marketing tactics, remember to adapt everything from pricing to promotion, and ensure your content is relevant for customers and always in sync with current trends.