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Is Social Media Worth It For Small Businesses?

This article is more than 9 years old.

For many small businesses, social media feels like a never-ending party where attendance alone is insufficient – one must make a Big, Continuous Splash.

That pressure produces a classic, if disappointing, effort/reward imbalance for many small businesses.

Indeed, a survey released by Manta earlier this year said that nearly 50 percent of businesses surveyed had increased their time on social media channels with another 55 percent actively using them for lead generation and customer engagement.  Despite this sincere and focused investment of resources, more than 60 percent reported no return on investment.  Forget moving the needle – all that work on social did not even make it tremble.

I’m fairly unconvinced that social media is a game-changer for every business.  Yet I do think a defined digital presence – coupled with realistic expectations – can be a source of significant support for most, assuming a thoughtful approach is taken.  Too often, however, it’s easy to make some rookie mistakes.

It’s common for small businesses to quickly jump into multiple social media streams.  In fact, social platforms strategically make it very simple and quick to join the ranks.  While that ease of adoption is great for small businesses, especially those with limited social media acumen, it’s actually something of a double-edged sword.  You can create accounts and start sharing without ever really considering your audience.  It’s much better to slow down and look at the data before you invest too much in one channel or spread yourself across too many.  What type of customer is purchasing your products?  What social channels do they frequent?  What kind of content gets shared, liked or retweeted?  If the data say that your average customer is a city-dwelling mother in her early 40s who likes Facebook, then there is no reason to spend your time and energy on Twitter , at least initially.

Content can be a troublesome area for small businesses.  I often see new social users start out strong and then peter out when the demands become overwhelming.  Social media is not dissimilar to a hungry baby – it requires feeding on a very regular basis.  Don’t set a rhythm you can’t maintain.  It’s a one-way ratchet; you can always turn it up but it’s hard to back off without appearing ungraceful.

Likewise, some companies churn content out at an impressive, if useless, pace in the hopes that something, anything, will stick.  The emphasis should be on value – providing something that’s useful, interesting and shareable for your customer base.  Put your focus on quality over quantity.  Invest in some experimentation and see what works.  One original post per week may be enough if you are selling to small businesses.  Several quick touches a day may be necessary, if on the high side, when you’re selling to kids or stay-at-home moms – unless you’re in a quick-stop retail business, when less is okay.  It took our company – which has broad expertise in social across industries – awhile to figure out our own social media.  We first overinvested in Facebook before we figured out that our audience is Twitter and LinkedIn -centric.  When we did, we allowed some experiments with other social sites to lapse.  The point is, it’s always a learning process for everyone.

It’s also easy to forget that community is core to social media.  Small businesses should identify strong social influencers – bloggers that your customers read, individuals with robust followers – and start engaging with them.  Follow them on their social channels to spark a return follow.  Share their content.  Comment thoughtfully, respectfully and without self-promotion on posts multiple times a week.  As time goes on, the door for conversation will open – as will opportunities for more meaningful engagement like sharing new milestones or promotions, guest blogging or even reciprocal commentary on your posts.

Small businesses may sometimes be surprised by unexpected responses to their social media outreach efforts.  It can be disconcerting the first time someone uses a nice, vanilla promotional campaign to air a grievance with your customer service.  Yet that’s the very nature of social media – and perhaps of life.  We can put ourselves out there and engage – but we can’t control the response, good or bad, to our efforts.  All that’s within our control is how we respond (as we should) to those who take the time to talk to us: with prompt courteousness and pleasant professionalism.

In the end, social media is a tool like many others at a small business’s disposal.  It’s unique in that it can heighten one’s visibility, broaden reach, and engage current and future customers.  But it only goes to work for you when you use it strategically.