Small Businesses
If you are starting your own business, or if you are in business for yourself, you can no longer afford to dismiss social media. It is the single most efficient, economical form of marketing ever created.
People have always trusted a personal endorsement more than a paid ad. And the studies back that up: Jupiter Research recently found that word-of-mouth converts at 82%; paid advertising: 18%. If you believe that word-of-mouth marketing is effective, then you positively must engage in social media now — because that’s precisely what social media is: a new array of tools that allow word-of-mouth marketing to spread orders-of-magnitude faster and more efficiently than ever before.
For example: someone who has had a positive experience with your product or service can Tweet about it and reach several hundred people who trust that person. Then, those people can send it to their “followers” — and so on down the line. A single Tweet about your business can reach thousands of people in minutes. For free. That is the power of social media. It is a big reason why Barack Obama won the White House.
Would you rather place an expensive ad and hope for the best — or would you rather rely on the time-tested dynamic of “word-of-mouth” marketing?
With the speed and complexity of the landscape — and the esoteric names (Twitter? Tumblr? Ning?) — social media can seem downright daunting, but it’s simple to use.
Through social media,
you can reach much better customers for much less money. There is no reason to pay for advertising any longer. Social media can do it better, for free.
Anyone can achieve success in social media. Take a look at these “everyday success stories” on Twitter and Facebook:
- Heather Gorringe — Wiggly Wigglers is a small gardening business in Herefordshire, UK with a mission to change the world, one rural home at a time. Its Wiggly community is built on several social media tools, which are mainly maintained by Heather, the farmer’s wife!
- Cottrell Real Estate — This real estate agency in St. Louis is positively killing it on Twitter. And good on ‘em!
- Dr. Brandon Harsche – A chiropractor from Texas focuses his social media efforts on building community around his brand and providing valuable content to his thousands of followers. He uses a simple, yet powerful one-two punch of Twitter and a regularly-updated blog. Savvy doc!