Small Businesses Can Thrive Off Social Media

Small Businesses Should Take The Risk 

The past few years have seen social media rise to the forefront of how we communicate as a generation, and because of its increasing popularity around the world, ignoring it is a massive mistake for any business. The landscape of business is ever-changing so it is important for new businesses that they don’t get left behind.

Source: jackosgym.co.uk

Due to the speed in which people can now communicate, your stakeholders can enter into dialogue with you almost immediately, and this makes the whole process of getting a business up and running easier. Social media is a great tool for business but it should be used with caution. It is constantly evolving, and because of this, there is a need to have a robust and adaptable strategy.

Before publishing any content to the outside world, you must consider your goals, both short term and long term. Are you attempting to raise more awareness, generate new sales, or boost traffic to your website? Each one of these require a very different approach to social media, and if executed incorrectly, it could cost the business some valuable customers. There are numerous ways to measure and analyse the businesses social media, and keeping a close eye on the metrics will help you understand what is succeeding, and what isn’t. This will ensure that you are not wasting valuable resources on things that are not making any positive impact on the business.

Social media for businesses works best when there is a specific target audience. If you try to engage with too many people at once, you will end up attracting no one, so try and have a strategy for each group of people that you wish to speak to. It is crucial to remember that social media was created as a form of social connection and not a business tool, so it is important that you speak to people on their terms. This is beneficial for business though, as it becomes a two-way dialogue, and this ensures that you can receive customer feedback easily, and deal with complaints effectively online. Social media is a quicker more cost effective way of knowing what your customers want.

Source: designyoutrust.com

When taking your business into the hectic world of social media, it is vital that you consider your identity online. Your company will be perceived through a brand and this means that you need to portray that brand in a certain light if it is to succeed. The way you utilise social media should reinforce what the brand stands for. A company that has succeeded in this department is a family owned gym called Jacko’s Gym. They have been very active on Facebook and Instagram in recent times, and through this have gained many supporters. Their strategy has been to target an audience who value both the exercise and social elements of visiting a gym, whilst portraying their brand as friendly and approachable online. Their story and rise to social media success is just one of many, and it shows that if small businesses such as Jacko’s Gym are willing to take a risk online, it can become a successful venture.

With so many opportunities to reach your target audience, don’t get left behind. It is vital to spend time on your social media strategy, and when doing this, remember the purpose of your content, engage with your audience and take advantage of the analytics tool available. If you are starting up a new business, then take a risk with social media, because if you pull it off, you could have a brand that is echoed in the households of many.

Alex Smith

Alex is an English Literature and Sociology undergraduate whose love for written word has led him to write about some obscure topics in his time. Currently a content writer at Social Media Frontiers, be sure to follow him @AlexSatSMF.

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