Many a small business may be under the impression that they neither have the time or the resources to spend much

   more than a cursory sum on social media. That would be a mistake. While it can

definitely be bewildering  trying to get a working plan going with social media,

it should be a part of every marketing

mix going forward. Not only does Google count social

signals in their ranking algorithm now, direct traffic

and ad opportunities make social one of the more

vibrant channels to work with in your marketing.

                                                    Better Vision

To get a better vision of what you might want to focus on,

 let’s have a look at what small businesses are

doing with it now, and how you can pattern that into a

workable plan for your business.

                                             Small Businesses and Social Media

How small business is using social media now

One thing that is obvious, from a recent study

conducted by LinkedIn, is that the small businesses

that are growing are the ones making an effort in both

time and expense with social media. 90 percent of

those surveyed credited social media for a large part

of their growth, brand awareness and 82 percent said

it helps with new lead generation.

Of the small businesses that identified themselves as

in hyper-growth, 73 percent of them increased their

social spending in the last year, while of the

businesses that aren’t experiencing growth, 53 percent

reported no increased effort or spend.

What areas of social media should you focus on?

It is now more and more clear that social media does

some things very well. Among these are building brand

awareness, along with social advertising. Social ads

are still very inexpensive, and can be highly targeted

to reach the exact audience you hope to engage. All

the major platforms, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

have ad platforms you can use from your social pages.

Using social media for competitive intelligence, as

well as ongoing business education is another effort

worth your time.

Last and surely not least, social reviews and mentions

of your company or products can help you in many ways,

from search to direct traffic, in addition to

delivering timely social proof. Social media is not

just a tool for large companies with huge advertising

budgets. Small business can play too, but like in most

areas of your marketing, it may need some strategic

planning to make the most of  it !