Social Media Marketing - Five Ways it Can Help Small Businesses

Social Media marketing is one area where small businesses can make a huge impact for little initial outlay – is it time you got social?

The Optus Business Social Media Index, released in association with the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) found that only 28 per cent of SMBs currently engage in Social Media marketing with the results indicating the majority of SMBs are yet to be convinced it is worth the investment. Social networking is a cost-effective way for SMBs to create an online brand identity and increase brand exposure – we show you how.

Increasing brand awareness

Creating brand awareness can be one of the biggest challenges for a SMB with a limited marketing budget. However, Social Media marketing is a great way for a new start-up to raise awareness about their products and services for little outlay. Setting up a basic social networking account is free and it has a very short learning curb; all it takes is time and resources to maintain and update Social Media accounts.

Building relationships

Social Media marketing can allow small businesses to be able to reach out to their customers, clients, suppliers and other people important to their business in a way that few other marketing tools can. Social networking allows you to communicate with people one-on-one and build a relationship-based community. With relationship building comes trust and credibility, and people like to do business with companies they trust.

undergoing Market research

Market research can be another huge expense for a small business but social networking accounts allow for informal market research campaigns. You can poll your community about new products or services, give you much-needed opinions about current products and services or make suggestions about new offerings. by creating online communities, you can get real-time feedback at no cost to your small business.

Managing your reputation

Creating online communities is one method which you can monitor what is being said about your company online. It brings a lot of opportunities to counter your critics and win over your detractors. How you respond to positive and/or negative feedback speaks volumes about your company not just to the original poster but other customers viewing the page. Online reputation management is an important component of Social Media marketing.

encouraging lead generation

Although it isn’t the only objective, increasing conversion rates is obviously an important goal of Social Media marketing. Unlike other marketing methods, it is a targeted method of marketing that can produce excellent results and give small businesses a better return on investment. As well as finding new customers, social networking is an excellent touch point for retaining contact with existing customers and fostering return business.

Social Media is an inexpensive marketing channel for SMBs to help grow and develop a business. Done well SMBs can increase brand awareness, reach countless potential customers and cultivate brand advocates and other people influential to their business. Learn more about how our Social Media packages can help you create an online business strategy that will make every internet marketing dollar count.

Here at Social Media Works, our focus is on assisting you to develop the best social media strategy in conjunction with a tactical social media plan to implement your strategy. Whether you are seeking custom social media consultant services or one of our social media marketing packages, the team at Social Media Works has the experience, expertise and innovative solutions to drive your social media presence and maxmise your Return On Investment (ROI).

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