Social Media For Small Business?

Social Media can be useful ESPECIALLY for local businesses.
But selling it stand-alone won't work.
Let me give you an example of what I did.

A lot of car sellers have a piece of paper on the window of each car they are selling including details about the car and the price. I picked up a car center in my location and did some local online marketing for them. I created a mobile website for each car they are selling and created a QR Code for each car which is placed on the cars. So if someone scans the code he will be redirected to a mobile website with more details about that car including videos etc. Then I have put a Like button on each mobile page so people can tell their friends, that they like this car. And as most of the persons friends are from the same location the car center will get customers.

This is just an example on how social media can be useful for local businesses. You always have to be creative. A plain Facebook Page without sense is not valuable.

Can Tonic ... that's a great example. I guess it has to be very specific to the business. For example, I see how it makes sense for restaurants but it's harder to have it make sense for a dentist.

1. Brand heightening of the D.C.'s practice in the community
2. Social reinforcement, via real-life reviews of patients' treatment experience.
3. Recommendations and word-of-mouth, on behalf of patients.
4. Laser-precision ad-targeting by the D.C., if he uses FB ads to drive traffic
5. Pre-qualified traffic that is open to contests, other online promotional engagement.

Just a few of the major ones.

HIH

Social Media is HUGE for Retail Business. I was hired to consult Social Media Marketing for a start up Internet Marketing company here in San Diego. We charge $3,500 to $10,000 per month to manage Social Media, Search Marketing and some SEO to small to large corporations. Add Social Media Marketing to a search and seo campaign and you will do very well.
Like Can Topic said, it hard to have it stand alone, businesses are to lead gen and ROI driven.

I sold a fan page to a client and he thought that was going to bring all the business he could handle, I told him it takes work, but he didn't listen. I think he resents me for it because he thought I took his money and ran. He is not even a fan of his own page.

Selling a fan page is one thing, but having the client PROPERLY run it is another. A lot of people just push their message out (especially on Twitter) and people don't want to see that. Social media takes TIME, not many people realize that.

It's not going anywhere. Be patient with it

Hey Can Tonic could you tell me if you outsorced that job with the car salesmen or did you do it yourself?

The social media websites are the best way to promote a small or personal business by creating fan pages on that websites such as Facebook and Twittor.

Twitter is somehow better than facebook as a social media tool for small businesses. But anyhow, for any business social media should be key for promoting your business. This is an eye opener. Thanks alot.

yes it's especially working for smaller business, if you are able to stand out from all the noises out there which takes more then just reading and learning, but thinking differently.

Social media work for small retail businesses. A fan page well managed, will fetch you the desired results.

yes it's especially working for smaller business, if you are able to stand out from all the noises out there which takes more then just reading and learning, but thinking differently.

For businesses such as salons, massage, health clubs, restaurants and the like, they can use their social media pages to offer deals - especially two for ones, or something that gets a small group of friends or say a softball team to participate in a contest put on by the business. This way the business gets a lot of exposure from each promotion, not just ones and twos.

Social Networking Sites help inform people of the services/products you are offering. This is specifically effective if you have added up your neighbors in these sites.

The whole point of social media for business is being able to connect and build a relationship with customers. In Twitter, people can leave reviews and their comments about their experiences and there is also a negative comment about your business. Then, you can work with it in a public way with openness and honesty. Right now, people are used to facebook, you can run a facebook adds. It is all about business relating with their potential customers. So, the ideas that can tonic add about using QR codes so that they can do more websites is brilliant. There is also a way so that you can drive them to places like yelp and to 4square. That is the sort of thing. If you get more customers to come in you can take idea on what action to take on you social media.

At the most basic level social media can help you establish a personal link from your prospective customers and then maintain that....

Facebook and Twitter are good medium to tell people about your product and if you know how to use it properly. I read about chiropractor - an alternative medicine, correct? You could post in Twitter like, do you experience pain in your spine when you do (site the possible cause), check how to prevent this. Then post your webpage URL. I think people are really into health topics. Follow and connect with parents, professionals, etc that often experience pain that can be treated by your product.

It's just like with anything else; if you dedicate time for it, you'll succeed.

There are many creative ways to do things, the problems is business owners are like everyone else; they want the magic pill.

There isn't one single answer to your question.

The better way to go about this is to ask this question; "What am I trying to achieve? How will social media help me get there?"

Hi Steve,

This is the best reference that I have come across when it comes to Social Media including Facebook

There are a few ways small businesses can use social media:

- Use Twitter to connect with people locally e.g. cafe/restaurant. There are lots of businessess doing this. One example is food trucks in the US who connect with customers and let them know what's on the menu and where they are
- Google Places for local searches/mobile searches (useful for dentists, etc.)
- Mobile. Checkin incentives
- Facebook for creating a community (there some small businesses out there who are using it pretty well to connect with customers/friends/advocates)

The above doesn't mean it's right for every single business. As said, you need to look what the business wants to achieve as well as whether they can manage it.

for my companies fan page we were really just porting our blog posts to the wall. This year we started posting pictures and videos of pools in progress and people started commenting, customer saw their pool on facebook and left testimonials on the wall!!! We created engagement. we didn't have much time to really optimize this or even scratch the surface of what is possible. Next on the docket is a custom fanpage QR code contest to build the list and increase likes.

It should start with the product or service first. An amazing product or service that creates raving fans can accelerate spreading the message to social media.

One trick you can use is give a card to your raving fan after he buys from you that reminds him to Like your FB page or Tweet your Hashtag or something else.

Without other things in place, and other forms of marketing, Social Media just won't work. A Facebook or a Twitter is just one piece of the puzzle. Part of the game means being ubiquitous, and being able to reach your customers and potential customers as quickly as possible. Since social media is one of these venues, it can be considered an asset in helping to build your base.

For instance, with Lime's Program, we have a connect to Facebook feature that posts on your page automatically when you send promotional offers such as coupons, or mobile messages promoting sales to customers' phones via an opt-in list. We put an opt-in form on the page as well, so that when customers' friends visit the page, they can feel free to opt-in. The program is comprehensive and makes it easy to attract more customers to the opt-in list to receive more instant updates, and a customer in the know feels confident in their loyalty.

With that being said, I will reiterate, it's only a piece of the puzzle.

Social Media, when done correctly, is all about building trust and relationships with your local market. Small business cannot compete with the big companies with billboards, television commercials, newspaper ads....therefore they suffer and usually fail due to lack of exposure. Social Media gives those small businesses, mom and pop shops, an affordable opportunity to tell their story and tap into the market share. The big companies compete on price....the local small businesses can compete on relationship building.

Hello, I think all the social networking sites help, it just takes time. That's all.

I should show the client the benefits of starting their own Twitter page and showing them how easy it is to get Twitter followers to come back and visit their website to generate a lead or do some other option. Plus, i would show them how easy it is to build up their Twitter followers list in a very short period of time. Once you set it up for them, this is something that they can do themselves.

P.S. I like Twitter rather than Facebook.

Social media is very important and plays a major role nowadays. I agree Can Tonic points but still when it comes to social media it doesn't have any boundary. The business can reach to any extend. The business owner might have a chance to start a business and go globally.

Social media can be a great tool in promoting your business but using social media alone is not an ideal strategy if you wish to boost your sales.

A facebook fan page could help the business owner to build relationships with their customers. The most fans they have, the better. It gives customers a chance to ask a business owner a question, and for the business owner to immediately respond with an answer. I think it will help to build the business owner's credibility and brand in the marketplace... especially when referrals come into play.

Social media is attractive to small businesses because of its perceived price. You can set up a new blog, fan page, video site, and Twitter account without paying a dime. There's no expensive software, or costly media buys. However, even though there's a low price tag to enter the game, social media is far from free. It requires time, energy, and effort. It's a never-ending commitment to create interesting content, listen to conversations, and respond.