Slow Economy? Social Media Can Help!

Has our current economic situation caused your business to struggle a little bit and perhaps make budget cuts in the marketing department?  Are you trying to figure out how to stretch every last one of those marketing dollars?  You are not alone!

Many businesses are finding it difficult to maintain their marketing efforts both to new prospects and existing customers with the downturn that most industries have experienced.  However, there is an excellent tool that every small business should have in their marketing arsenal, and that is social media.

To start off with, you need to think of social media as a conversation.  That is the key to a successful campaign.  It is not about followers, fans, check-ins, etc. — social media is about building a relationship with your customers.  Most of the leads that you generate through social media may not actually be shopping for your product or service, but they are more likely to do business with you if they feel like they have some sort of relationship with you.

When you embark on a social media campaign, you are directly helping to build buzz about your business.  In this respect, social media is very much like word of mouth advertising.  Your involvement in the conversations about your products or services helps you to gauge what your customers are thinking.  How long does it take for you to figure your customers out through a print campaign?

However, don't think for a minute that social media campaigns are free.  Sure, you can set up your Twitter account, Facebook page, etc. for free, but what about the time investment.  Either you (if you are self-employed) or at least one member of your team will need to be devoting time to handle your social media relationships.  This is why some mid-sized and large businesses will actually employ people just for the purpose of being their social media equivalent of a PR rep.

Remember, social media is about building a relationship with your customers through conversation.  A byproduct of this is that it will also help to build up your customers' trust, respect, and loyalty.