Small businesses are waiting to get involved with social networking, according to a Citibank/GfK Roper survey of 500 executives. However, seventy-six percent of the executives surveyed reported that social media so far had ot been helpful in accomplishing business initiatives, such as lead generation.
The small business owners I’ve worked with are exceptionally busy, and I think social networking seems like just another pin they’ve got to juggle in a given day. But as five small businesses profiled by Mashable this week demonstrate, social networking engagement pays dividends for small businesses.
These businesses, and other social networking success stories, engaged their customers first, and then moved into ways they could improve the businesses through using the community. Progression in that order is key, I feel, because no one wants to open up another unabashed advertising channel through social networking. They want to connect with others, businesses included.
The businesses I’ve observed making a focused effort to connect with their customers honestly and openly in their physical store locations have always been the most successful. Transferring that spirit of service and problem-solving to the social networking realm is the first step toward developing an effective small business social networking strategy.
Interested customers will interact with you on social networks to discover more about your products, services and other offerings. If they don’t feel that’s your only goal through your social media campaign, they are much more likely to receive the sales-focused messaging.
Your customers are smart, and they know your goals include getting them to purchase a product or service. But in this age of increased connectivity and increased transparency, they want to learn about your other goals as well, and will demand that there are goals other than closing a sale. Share about your company’s culture, share about your experiences as a small business owner. Be human.
Your customers will thank you, and I bet you’ll begin to see social networking as more helpful.
- Pete
