Social media marketing for small business owners

Many small business owners, product retailers in particular, rely on their store fronts and F2F engagement with customers to sustain their businesses. One thing that the pandemic has taught SMEs, is that they were not prepared for the unexpected impact of Covid-19. Closed doors meant zero sales. Job losses. Significant reduction in revenue and increase in debt.

The Technology

In developed countries where digital transformation became a part of business strategy long before less developed nations, the world wide web was the saviour for many small businesses that relied on internet sales to keep them afloat. Innovation became the watch word for small product and service providers which were all competing for the stay-at-home market of newly remote workers, home schoolers and Gen Z with a lot more time on their hands.

Up to 20 years ago, there was no such thing as social media. Businesses relied on print marketing to advertise their businesses. First let’s define what social media actually is: It is a group of interactive, computer-based technologies – including websites and applications, that enables users to create and share content/ideas/products/services and promotes social networking. Users of social media can do so via computers, tablets, smart watches and phones.

Social media statistics show that:

• There are 3.5 billion social media users worldwide! That’s HALF of the world’s population!!
• Facebook is the most popular social media platform.
• 90.4% of Millennials, 77.5% of Generation X, and 48.2% of Baby Boomers are active social media users.
• Users spend an average of 3 hours per day on social networks and messaging.

Those stats alone are reason enough for small business owners to get on the social media bandwagon now. So what exactly is the technology that small businesses can use during these unprecedented times and even post-Covid that will transform their businesses into more resilient and sustainable ones? The following are 6 common types:

1. Social networks – Facebook, LinkedIn
2. Media sharing / bookmarking sites – Pinterest, YouTube
3. Microblogging – Twitter, Facebook
4. Blog posting forums
5. Social review sites – TripAdvisor
6. Photo/video sharing site – Instagram

Pros of Social Media for SMEs

The viral phenomenon of social media gives social media sites and the content that is posted on these platforms, to literally ‘spread’ like a virus – hence its name, from person to person via the various applications. In a social media context, the content that is ‘viral’ are those with the greater likelihood of being reshared over and over again. This is why businesses have a great interest in viral marketing tactics because a viral marketing campaign can literally spread like wildfire for a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing like magazine and newspaper advertising. Resharing marketing content via social media platforms can be as simple as a ‘tweet’ on Twitter, a ‘pin’ on Pinterest, a ‘share’ on Facebook or a ‘like’ on Instagram. Content and visual appeal is critical, but when stacked against the ROI that a business can obtain from boosting a post on Facebook for US$10 to a particular target audience and demographic – it’s a no brainer!

The Role of Content Marketers

Content creators like Scribbly Guru, will assist small business owners to:

• Create a simple step-by-step social media strategy for your small business
• Create relevant content for social media
• How to identify your audience and keep them engaged
• How to integrate picture graphics to enhance your campaign
• Learn how to interact and engage with customers on social media
• How to convert ‘Likes’ to Sales
• How to stay current with the content

If you want to reach potential customers as they browse the internet and establish or enhance your brand and build your revenue, contact us for a consult at maria@scribblyguru.com.