Why Is Your Small Business Losing the Social Media Race? | Social ...

You have one of the best products on the small business market, your customer service is second to none, and your return on investment (ROI) is at or better than where you want it. So, what could possibly be missing from your business plan?

As more and more small businesses look to make their mark in a tough economy, imagine where some of them could be if they even dabbled in social media just a bit. Yes, they could be blowing the competition out of the water.

For too many small business owners, one of the keys they are lacking to an even more successful company is a social media presence. Oftentimes, you will hear a CEO/business owner claim that they have trouble getting a true read on their ROI when it comes to social media, so they choose not to invest the time and effort to begin with. Quite frankly, big mistake.

Don't Miss Out on Opportunities

Whether it is having trouble reading the ROI or having business owners/CEO?s who are from the ?old school? long before social media became in vogue, there are missed opportunities out there.

How can you as a small business owner cash in on all social media has to offer?

Among the three steps you need to take immediately:

1. Deal in reality - Are you that small business owner or CEO who thinks that social media is just visiting for a short time, with no long-term plans on sticking around? If that?s the case, you could very likely be in for a big surprise. While nothing is certain in this world except for death and taxes, most ?experts? in the social media arena do not expect it to go anywhere anytime soon. You may feel that business is going great, you don?t need social media to boost operations, and you don?t have the time for SM. If you answer yes to the first thought, great. If you answer yes to thoughts two and three, bad. Social media will help you improve your customer outreach, allow you to be seen as an authority in your respective industry, and engage with current and potential customers. Lastly, you should MAKE time for social media. Given it does not cost you like traditional advertising does to promote your business, promoting your company via social media is essentially a form of free advertising. At the end of the day, why wouldn?t you take advantage of this? For whatever reason, there are still many businesses that do just that;

2. Focus, focus, focus - If you decide to give social media a try, you need a game plan just like you would with any other project you undertake. The initial thought may be to put your company on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more. See any problem with such a strategy? Some may say the more the merrier, but in fact, you should start out focused on one site at a time. Let?s say you decide to promote your company with a Facebook fan page. Put your time and effort into Facebook for a few months and see how you do. At the end of say three months, see how many friends (customers) you have, likes, what kind of traffic you are getting, how much engagement you are getting, and so on. If the numbers are encouraging, move on next to Twitter and follow the same plan. While you certainly can do more than one site at a time, having too many oars in the water could put you at a disadvantage. Social media audiences are not built up overnight, so take the time to do it right the first time around;

3. Promote and engage your business via social media - Have you run into the business man or woman that is somewhat involved in social media, yet they do not really take the time to promote their business on SM? You?d be surprised that there are more folks out there like this than you may have thought existed. Social media can be a major positive for your business, but it takes time and effort on your part or those working for you. Whether you, someone in your company, or an outside firm does your social media, it needs to be promoted. In order to promote it, put your social media feeds on your business cards, on flyers, on any print or radio/television ads you do. If you have just started a Facebook fan page for your business, make sure you monitor it regularly, engaging both current and potential customers. By doing so, you can stand out as an authority in your niche, be seen as a go-to business when consumers have questions, and improve your search engine rank. If you are engaged and constantly updating your social media presence, search engines are more apt to have you higher on their lists, meaning more people doing a Google search of your company name will land on your site.

If your company does not currently have a social media presence, there is still time to get your game in gear.

If the competition already has a lead on you in the social media race, are you going to just let them coast to victory or will you chase them down?

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Authored by:

Dave Thomas

About the author: With 23 years of experience as a writer, Dave Thomas covers a wide array of topics in the office from buying the right used cubicles to marketing your small business.

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Source: http://socialmediatoday.com/thomasd/816726/why-your-small-business-losing-social-media-race

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