A Introductory Guide: How small businesses can use social media to their advantage

(This is the first article of a two-part series by Judith Cohen, founder and president of FreshBuzz Media)

For the busy Business owner, social media can be boggling. There are hundreds of social media platforms online, and it’s easy to spend dozens of hours visiting them, creating and updating profiles. And if done right, social media can be an incredibly effective and productive marketing tool for engaging existing customers and creating new ones.

Here are just a few ways busy business owners can use social media effectively and efficiently.

The Basics – What is social media? 

Social media includes the various online technology tools that enable people and businesses to communicate easily via the Internet to share information and resources. Social media includes the blog on your website that allows comments, a micro-blogging site (Twitter), social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, customer-review sites such as Yelp, image- and video-sharing sites such as Flickr and YouTube.

Traditional marketing tactics such as advertising, referrals, and public relations are still very important, but social media tactics have now become a part of marketing’s everyday fabric and without a doubt needs to be considered at the strategic level of your marketing decision-making process.

You’ve likely heard that it’s important to make social media part of your business marketing plan. But, how do you get involved?

Shedding some light on social media for business

Social media presents business owners with a rich set of new tools to help generate incredible engagement, brand loyalty, information and new businesses. Why use social media as a marketing tool?

• It’s an easy and natural way to get your name out there
• You can share your knowledge in your area of expertise
• It helps expand your contact base and your business referral network
• It allows you and your business to be accessible
• Social media acts as a customer relationship tool for your service and products
• You can advertise directly to your target audience
• You can expand your network both nationally and internationally
• You can increase your search engine relevance
• You can monitor what is being said about your company

Social Media Platforms and Tools

These valuable social media platforms and tools allow you to promote your business and brand and the region by providing the personality and behind-the-scenes story SLO visitors and consumers desire. The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce actively works to promote itself and it’s member businesses through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube and other social media platforms.

Social media is useful for almost every type of business. Wineries, cafes, yoga studios, retail stores, antique stores and even professional services are gravitating towards social platform technologies, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to:

• Build their online reputation
• Increase trust and accessibility
• Become more personable
• Maintain long term connections
• Increase referrals and profitability
• Expand their customer service

A business that invests its time wisely can improve follower (fan) and customer loyalty and traditional word-of-mouth marketing efforts. Smart investment of time is key, as keeping up with social media can be challenging.

For companies who desire a custom strategy and branded page approach, there are a number of skilled social media agencies and consultants that provide local businesses with solutions to launch, customize and manage their social media platforms.