Social Media for the Small Business

I spend an inordinate amount of time handling social media companies of all sizes. Whenever I have the fortune of meeting small business owners who have no social media presence, I like to pick their brains on the subject. The most common complaints I hear are that they don’t understand it, they have no one to do it for them, or they don’t think that there would be enough of an interest in their company to be worth the time. It’s hard for smaller businesses to get started in social media, especially with the complaints mentioned above. While some of those reasons hold water, not all of them float.

They Don’t Understand It
While the concept of social media is old hat to those of us who bask in it on a daily basis, many – if not most – small business owners are behind the curve in jumping on the bandwagon. The most common statements I hear are, “I don’t really get all of that Facebook and Twitter stuff,” or the defeated “I need to get on there.” I’ve seen small businesses take the plunge, only to do so with absolutely no sense of social media etiquette. One owner decided to suddenly start updating his company’s Facebook page and posted the same spammy update several times a day in ALL CAPS with four exclamation points at the end. It was horrifying. I implored him to stop, and schooled him on the art of engagement versus slapping contrived, sterile ads as his status. Eventually he simply gave up, and his Facebook page hasn’t been updated in over a year. The sad part is that I believe his business would have benefited significantly from social media had he decided to just bite the bullet and pay someone to handle it for him. To this day he continues to buy ads in the newspaper with dwindling results.

Many business owners cling to traditional media over social media because they don’t understand social engagement on a computer as a means of connecting with their customers.

They have no one to do it
If you don’t have someone to do it, pay someone to do it for you to test the waters. In the case mentioned above, my friend owned his own business and decided to handle the social media himself, despite the fact that he had no idea what he was doing. His small staff was rather busy, and I suggested he pay someone to kick-start his social media offerings for a few of months to see how it went. He declined, saying he thought it was a waste of money. I compared the cost of a social media expert for a month versus the cost of one newspaper ad that barely worked. I made my point, but he still passed, primarily out of a lack of understanding of the value of social media.

It kind of reminds me of the people who complain when a can of Folgers coffee that makes 270 cups is $10, yet will turn around and go to Starbucks and pay $4 for one cup.

They don’t think there would be enough interest
This is one point in which some business owners are correct. Social media isn’t for everyone. Most businesses should have a social presence as a means to connect with their more engaged customers, but should be realistic in their expectations.

If a business excites people, it will flourish online. Business-to-business, however, is much different animal than those dealing with the public. If you’re a component manufacturer, chances are you’ll gain little from Twitter. But for most companies that deal directly with the public, an online presence will only help. How that presence is handled will determine its success. Creating a Facebook page and letting it sit there will do nothing. I’ve seen national chains with smaller followings and less engagement than popular local establishments. How a local business can top a national one in social media is governed by how well they follow the “Rules of Engagement” if you will.

I’ve had business owners ask me how and why the local accounts I handle are so popular. I tell them there is no trick involved, but rather a combination of engagement and consistency. When other business owners see a local establishment with 7000 Facebook fans and 2500 Twitter followers, they think it just happened organically, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. There is a daily grind involved to build a true, engaged online presence. Many small business owners don’t understand what happened behind the scenes to create a flourishing social media presence, nor do they want to pay to make it happen for them. They’d love to see those results, but don’t take the time to learn the ropes or pay for the service.

Social media for the small business can be daunting at first, but it is an investment that will pay dividends with consistency, persistence, and patience. For those offering social media services, the biggest task is usually convincing business owners to pay for this service, and then convincing them to be patient when their social media empire isn’t built the next day. For small businesses wanting to handle social media themselves, the biggest challenge is the learning curve involved, and mastering the many nuances involved.