Social Media & Small Business – A futuristic review
Social Media arguably is the revelation of this century. With its help, many small businesses have developed exponentially. Social Media has enabled these small business owners to expand their demographics and bring in new customers.
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Let’s face it. If you are a small business owner, there is absolutely no possible way that you could advertise your product on Television, given today’s cost. Naturally your business is known only to the people who live in your town or to those who know you. There is no other local advertisement within your budget that you can bring in new customers. Now, with the help of Social Media, this barrier could be broken.
If you open a Facebook page or a Twitter network, people will come to know you. If the word spreads, anything can happen. The advantage of these networks is the fact that they actually engage your users to take part in conversations about your service. So, you will get all the publicity in the world without spending a penny. Most of us make the mistake by just marketing our product. That isn’t the real meaning of Social Media. So, try to engage with your users as much as possible.
There are sites like Yelp where people might talk about you even if you are not present there. If they are spreading out positive reviews, you have nothing to worry about. But when the critics are hard on you, you should be there to face the criticism. That will vibrate a positive atmosphere to the viewers.
Entertaining Local Customers
Most importantly, you should try to entertain your local customers. Let’s say you have a bar and you are hosting a party. Now, you could use the “event” option in Facebook to let the people of your town know about your party. So, when a person decides to attend that event, it will be shown to all his friends. By this way, the word will get out and the friends of that particular person might attend your party. If a new person is willing to going to attend your party, try to communicate with him. That will make the users feel alive.
In spite of doing all this, it is idiotic to spend excessive time or money in Social Media. Keep your goals simple and try to get five to six customers from this. What this does to you is, they fix your name in the Internet and they will give you a global status. It is necessary to have a specific user name which states your business as everything lies in the hands of Search Engine Optimization.
If you want to take your internet marketing to a next level, opening a website is essential. Put all the info relating to your business in that website. Also attach a map to your place and link it to various important landmarks around your place. By this way, it will be helpful for your users to find your place. Do make sure that your website gets into important search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN.
Like it or not, in the years to come, Social Media is going to dominate the world. So, what is the whole point in waiting?