Small Business Marketing Strategy: Is Social Media Marketing Viable?
Network Solutions recently published an intriguing report about small business success metrics. Their Small Business Success Index research (opens PDF of executive summary) contends that small businesses excel at customer service – but that small business marketing leaves much to be desired.
Why is this? How can small businesses improve their marketing without costly ad campaigns?
The State Of Small Business
Network Solutions breaks out six key factors that influence success for small businesses – capital access, marketing & innovation, workforce, customer service, computer technology, and compliance. (Details about each factor are included in the full report, available on their website.)
Customer service is the highest ranked of the six factors, meaning most small businesses do well at pleasing their customers. But marketing and innovation records the second worst score.
The problems become more apparent when marketing and innovation is broken down into sub-indices.
Where Are Small Businesses Failing (And Can Social Media Marketing Help)?
Out of seven marketing and innovation sub-indices, I’d like to examine the four lowest ranked and determine whether a social media marketing strategy could help improve sagging attributes.
Consider Michael Stelzner’s report published last month: Social Media Marketing Industry Report. In his extensive survey, Stelzner details how marketers are using social media to grow their business.
Consider Network Solutions’ marketing and innovation sub-indices when paired with Stelzner’s benefits of social media marketing:
- Finding efficient ways to advertise and promote your business – Network Solutions score: 67 (lowest sub-index)
- 81% of marketers reported that social media marketing generated exposure for their business (Stelzner)
- Converting marketing leads into buyers – Network Solutions score: 68
- 35% of marketers reported that social media marketing helped them close business
- Positioning your organization as having the same capabilities as big organizations in your industry: Network Solutions score: 71
- 61% of marketers reported that social media marketing increased their traffic/subscribers/opt-in list (key positioning/branding tactic)
- Identifying new prospective customers – Network Solutions score: 71
- 48% of marketers reported that social media marketing generated qualified leads
Social media marketing isn’t for everyone. It takes a lot of time and energy. These solutions are often highly personalized to your business (read: one size does not fit all). I have a history of warning marketers before they dive right in.
That said, I think the Network Solutions research and the Stelzner survey prove that social media marketing might be exactly what a lot of small businesses need right now.
So What Does This Mean For Me?
Later this week, I will drill down into the Networks Solutions data. I’ll give specific examples of how small businesses could improve their scores in the marketing and innovation sub-indices.
What’s this mean for you? Well, my hope is that you’ll garner something from my advice that provides a solution to your own small business marketing problem.
If you leave a comment about your personal small business marketing problems, I will try to address it in that post. Please join us later in the week for this follow-up – the easiest way not to miss out is to subscribe.
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(Image courtesy of shashiBellamkonda via Flickr)
Tags: Marketing, marketing and innovation, Network Solutions, Online marketing, small biz, small business, success
[...] thinking about that after I read the Network Solutions report I referenced in my last post about whether social media marketing was viable for small businesses. My riff off Smirnoff went something like this: Before the internet, marketing hid poor customer [...]
Great Post,
I will be off to Vancouver next week to deploy Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter across an entire brokerage.
The concept is to encourage all agents within the company to connect to all of their clients already enrolled in social networks.
The broker will publish information about real estate in the markets they serve by pushing the information out on their company group pages where all agents are members. The agents are notified when the broker publishes content and the agent republishes that information to their own network of customers.
This “one to many” and “many to many” strategy will create a wide scale social influence on the customers and communities they serve.
Aside from becoming the “voice of real estate” for their area, they promote many secondary impressions about their agents and their company like Tech Savvy, Green, Knowledgeable, Service Orientated, Great marketers, etc.
I am way ahead of the game. Each time I sell a house, I post the photo of the house on my facebook page. I have 170 contacts and that’s a captive audience that already knows me. I think it would be interesting to get updates from my company on facebook. It would eliminate the need for the company email, which probably has a low click through rating b/c they send so many. I am all fir my broker having a fan page. I think I will start a group to get him to start a fan page.
[...] Is Social Media Marketing Viable [...]
Great job! Social Media marketing is a necessary element for all corporations today. Companies are also inventing innovative ways in leveraging social media.
Social Media marketing is a necessary element for all corporations today. Companies are also inventing innovative ways in leveraging social media. Great job!
You gave great information with statics information…
This will be useful to all business people!!!!!!
Business people have to know about small business marketing strategy!!
Thanks for your information…
Hi,
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Regards,
Jane
Of course with the changing face of marketing and advertising there will be more value into Social Media avenues, the key is that small business can jump on this just as much as a large corporation. Great article.
We have had quite a bit of success with social media.
You are very acurate with your warning, you cant just start a campaign and then stop, you have to be willing to keep at it every few days if not every few days. Social media can be a very big, and time consuming project. A business neds a good plan of what they want to accomplish and a schedule of when to do it. If you are not careful you can spend many more hours than necessary. you have to put a limit on your facebook, twitter, linkedin myspace whatever, they can be very big time drainers.
I would like to hear how you handle the time management part of the whole thing
thanks, i always enjoy your posts
Social Media Marketing is really the trend these days. i market most of my products through social networking sites.
Good post congratulations
[...] Media Marketing Report "Social Media Marketing Report" image from: http://onlinemarketerblog.com/2009/04/small-business-marketing-strategy-is-social-media-marketing-vi... "Social Media Marketing Report" on TwitterFacebook : Social Media Marketing Industry Report: [...]