Download - Social media marketing for small businesses
Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses
Cristina Piera | Nikhil Paul
Introduction
Over 9M small business use social media
74% of consumers rely on social networks to guide purchase decisions
“Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media
sites.”
Advantages
• Contact thousands of
people
• Brand awareness
• Increase traffic
website.
• Generate leads and
social communities
• Listen to customers
• Cheap
Disadvantages
• Negative viral publicity
– Can’t control what people
say
• Requires constant updates
and monitoring
• Ads have negative effect
– Not a place for a hard sell
• Requires knowledgeable
individuals
• Limited resources of small
businesses
Good Example - Southport Dental
• Engage and educate
customers
• Use of Youtube for trust
Good Example – Timbuk2 Bags
Bag Customization Businesshttp://timbuk2sf.tumblr.com/ http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/
Good Example – Timbuk2 Bags
• Engaged in conversation (surveys, questions)
• Monitored conversations (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr)
• Discovered: Would-be customers were put off by wide variety of
choices and feelings of design inadequacy
• Updated Tumbler to show all bags ever created – Bag of the week
on Facebook
• Saved $20,000 on customer research programme
Bad Example – Habitat
Bad Example – Habitat
Bad Example – Need-A-Cake
Pastry Business
• Used Groupon campaign to advertise company and increase traffic
• Hard Sell
• Quick Fix Solution
• High discounts (75% off)
• Loss of £2.50 per order plus £12,500 extra in costs for staff and distribution
• Wiped out profits of 2011
Bad Example – Need-A-Cake
• Plan
• Show who you are
• Get badly needed feedback
• Be selective and focused
• Create amazing incentives
• Capitalize on and boost your word of mouth marketing
• Hard sell• Look for a quick fix• Don’t be everywhere• Post obvious ads• Spam
Dos Donts
Do you think negative feedback from SSM can be of benefit to small businesses?
Discussion Questions
Because of the limited resources of small business, what forms of social media, out of the 200+, do you believe is the most effective for small businesses?