To set the stage for this social media section of my blog, I want to point out why social media is such a GAME CHANGING OPPORTUNITY for your small business.

A lot of people lately are coming to the realization that social media is not a trend or a fad but a marketing and communication evolution. Social media is a fundamental –and dare I say “permanent” –shift in the way our society communicates.  Businesses both small and large must adapt to communication shifts in order to experience long-term, competitive survival.

Whether you have been a small business owner for quite some time or whether you are just setting up shop, I am sure you have identified marketing messages about your products and services.  Any competitive business has effective differentiators defined in order to make their business stand out.  Marketing folks package those differentiators into concise messaging that continually matches your products and services to the people who need and want them.  This is what ensures your small business stays profitable.

I am sure you have thought about unique and memorable ways to package and communicate your company’s messages…maybe you’ve turned to a marketing consultant or agency to help with this effort. You’ve probably established a certain monthly budget to go towards your marketing activity.  Even the smallest small businesses set aside some money to get this type of prospecting activity going (I know from personal experience!). The challenge on our plates today is effectively communicating those messages through this new marketing medium of social media.

As consumers, we are familiar with how a business communicates its differentiators through traditional mediums such as print (ads & written copy), TV, or direct mail.  These mediums have been an effective way for businesses to reach targeted audiences for a long time.  However, consumers are simply not spending as much time watching TV, reading newspapers and checking the mail as they once were.

Over the past few years, the marketing methods of both large and small businesses have evolved to become more targeted by reaching customers where they have gone –to the Internet.  Today you might communicate with customers by way of a website or regular email messages and eNewsletters.  These are effective methods and are a good sign that your small business is working to keep up and shift to the newer mediums where customers are present.  Good for you!

But times continue to change and customers again are standing up and showing through their actions that they are moving on!  They have left TV, print, direct mail and they are even leaving email in certain ways…and social media is EXACTLY where they are going! It is precisely this new medium of social media that challenges businesses to connect with customers in a new way – on a personal, interactive, social level.

Large businesses work diligently to convert their “commercial” presence into a warm personality or character that enables a human connection with consumers.  Take the Geico Gecko for example, or Flo, the woman from the Progressive Insurance commercials.  Big businesses want us to associate the face of these characters with their company since we inherently relate to the characters better than to the overall large organization.  Large businesses are making social media effective by leveraging such personalities to connect with consumers via platforms like Twitter and Facebook.  It only makes sense that you would have a stronger social connection with a person than with a large company.

A competitive advantage of a small business is its ability to be authentic and “personal”. The brand, the owner, and the small business innately identify with people more closely on a human level that feels warmer and more genuine.  This personal representation of a small business can translate perfectly through social media.  Big businesses have to work harder to be good at something that small businesses naturally excel at.

As a small business, social media allows you to expand your reach exponentially in a way that only large-scale competitors could do so in the past through other mediums.  Social media is here for a small business’s taking! It is truly a revolutionary platform that fits small businesses to a “t” and the BIG guys are working double time to fit the mold and it is proving to be incredibly effective.  Your small business is teed up to take advantage of this game-changing opportunity TODAY and my blog is here to help you get a clear idea of how that can all look for you. I look forward to making social media effective for your small business.

If this insight can help a fellow small business owner, please be sure to “like” it or retweet the post…thanks!

To the Social Media Success of Your Small Business!

~Emily