Many small and midsize businesses (SMBs) depend on social media as a marketing tool. With such a large number of options available, choosing sites on which to focus time and budget can be daunting. According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, social networks continue to be popular with consumers of all ages and demographics. In fact, the study finds that, with the exception of people under the age of 18 and over the age of 65, more than 60 percent of every user demographic (broken down by age, education, income, location and ethnicity) use social networking sites.
Driving Consumer Engagement
According to a CBS article, "[S]ocial media can be a fantastic tool to drive customer engagement and brand awareness for businesses large and small." Which social networking sites to use depends on what the business's customers are using. This can be discovered by conducting a customer survey or by monitoring different social platforms to assess which sites generate the most interest.
It is better for SMBs to use a few carefully selected, active and industry-appropriate social media sites instead of building a presence on dozens. Oversaturation of a business's brand can create a negative image and repetitive talking points. Additionally, participation on fewer sites allows more thorough IT support and monitoring. The most important objective of social networking for SMBs is to create value for customers so that they feel a sense of connection to the business.
Unfortunately, too many SMBs think that social networking is too time consuming, and they do not put in the effort to build a social presence. By incorporating a presence on social networking sites into their business strategy, companies can build strong consumer communities based on their brand. Not only do consumers in these communities discuss among themselves why they like certain products and services, but community members also use social networking sites to request support from and provide feedback to the company itself. The social networking community often reports bugs in the company website and warns of potential security risks, such as malware embedded in an online ad. With these advance alerts, an IT department can quickly address network and security problems.
Engaging IT
Social media can cause security problems for business networks. Videos and podcasts, both popular methods used to reach customers, take up storage space. Bringing IT professionals into the discussion of how to use social sites as they are being developed can prevent problems in the future by ensuring that the infrastructure is designed to handle large amounts of data and an influx of new business sparked by social marketing tactics. There is also the matter of securing multiple devices that connect to the same site. IT management of social networks is similar to that of bring-your-own-device policies: Both require solid strategies that keep the network secure and avoid data integrity issues. With a smart social marketing policy in hand and by reaching out on sites that have an active population in the company's target demographic, SMBs may find social media to be an effective tool for multiple areas of business.
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
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Social Media Important to SMBs