Is Your Small Business Facing Social Media Questions - Socialnomics

As you sit in your office today, take a moment to ponder just where social media rests on your itinerary of important tasks each day.

For the small business owner who is utilizing sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to promote their brand, good for you. For the man or woman running a company who fails to see the importance of SM, there is still time to recover and let social media do wonders for you.

To anyone who may have doubted the power of social media, they need only look at the news this week from Facebook.

The social media giant reported that it had recently topped the one billion mark in users, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg noting, ?This morning, there are more than one billion people using Facebook actively each month. If you?re reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you.?

The good news for Facebook was something to share, especially given the rocky year that Zuckerberg and Co. have had after the company?s infamous initial public offering (IPO). There have also been questions raised as to how legit all the Facebook user accounts are, given admissions from the company itself that approximately 8.7 percent of its user accounts could, in fact, be fake and/or abandoned.

As Facebook looks for more means to accrue revenue and perhaps pinpoint just exactly how many accounts are indeed credible, there is still no doubt who the leader in social networks is.

With that being said, is your small business taking advantage of all Facebook and the other prime social mediums have to offer?

If the answer is no, consider the following:

* Free advertising ? For the small business owner that is looking to save some money on advertising, social media is the perfect solution. Unlike traditional print or airwave advertising, talking about and promoting your brand on social media venues is essentially free. Yes, the time and effort necessary to do it correctly are required, but don?t you think the investment is worth it? You have the benefit of a large audience at your fingertips, many of whom could be your next customer;

* Real-time interaction ? Whereas much of small business dealings in the past revolved around visits from clients and phone calls, social media is a great means to connect with both current and potential customers in real-time. Numerous recent studies have shown that more and more consumers are using the Internet to both browse and purchase products and services. With that being the case, being active with business pages on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other key social media venues just makes sense;

* Know what people are saying ? Lastly, knowing what both consumers and competitors are saying about your business on social media helps you in several ways. First, you can respond in real-time to any inaccuracies or negative comments about your business. Second, you can help consumers with questions they have about your products or services in a quick and timely manner. Finally, you can be engaged with consumers 24/7/365, showing that you are an authority in your line of business, always there to assist customers.

Whether you are fully into social media, use it sparingly or have not tested the waters yet, your small business has nothing to lose with using it.

In fact, your small business might even come face-to-face with a whole bunch of new customers when you become more social.

Photo credit: smallbizdaily.com

Source: http://www.socialnomics.net/2012/10/07/is-your-small-business-facing-social-media-questions/

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