Social Media Impact on Small Businesses

There is a trend lately that is moving toward small companies having greater success with social media than larger companies. Small companies don’t have to invest as much to make a big impact. Small companies hold the keys to success.

It is important for all companies to approach social media in a structured and organized manner. If you set up a routine that is easy to follow and yields positive results, you will be more inclined to stick to it. That applies to all businesses, however, smaller companies, because their size makes them easier to manage, generally start to see results more readily than larger companies. The following are keys to success when it comes to using social media to its fullest potential:

The magical keys to success

Building relationships: With social media, relationships are the most important factor when it comes to success. This is one of the main reasons why small companies are more successful than medium or large companies. Small companies know their clients better and they spend more time getting to know them thoroughly. It is common practice for the owners of small companies to reach out online personally to their clients. This is critical to the success of the business. Having a close relationship means that the clients will become loyal and will generally not consider buying from anyone else when they need something.

Don’t reach for the stars: Always choose quality over quantity when it comes to your followers. If you  have 500 or 1,000 followers in one of your social media communities and you don’t really have any sort of meaningful relationship with the majority of those people, it isn’t worth very much. What is important is building a high-quality relationship with some of the people with whom you connect that is mutually beneficial and meaningful. If you own a small company and your followers interact with you, it is easy for you to reciprocate and interact with them in return.

Be quick to respond: It is easier for small businesses to respond to their online connections immediately than it is for larger companies. Small companies don’t have the number of layers that larger companies have when it comes to communicating with other people outside of the company. Small companies don’t get involved nearly as much with the corporate attitude that larger companies seem to exude. Many times, their corporate policies prevent them from communicating directly with other people outside of the company, which can be detrimental to the company’s success through social media.

Use a different approach: The approach that small companies take when it comes to connecting online with business associates is completely different than the approach that larger companies take. An example of this difference is that the small companies are using the LinkedIn Answers (it is a feature that allows people to ask questions and receive answers) feature. The result is that they are getting more clients than they had before because they are building relationships through LinkedIn. Larger companies tend to be more conservative in their approach to social media, whereas smaller companies seem to be more open-minded when it comes to trying new technologies. A part of that conservative outlook is the idea that social networks are only for personal use. In reality, there are so many ways in which to leverage social media for business that will prove successful.

 Conclusion

If you have not gotten your business involved with social media thus far, it is not too late now. More and more people are jumping on the social media bandwagon and there is so much at your fingertips now that can help you to achieve greater and greater success for your business. Very few businesses today are not involved in some sort of social media activity. If you have not gotten involved, you are doing your business and yourself a very large disservice.

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