Why Should Any Business Care About Social Media?

Social media has become dominant, not only in life but in business.  YouTube is second only to Google when it comes to search.  Nine-thousand one-hundred Tweets happen per second.  Three new members join LinkedIn every two seconds.  Facebook is the third largestcountry (behind India and China) with eighteen percent of all internet users on Facebook.

Many could say, why would I use social media and get lost? I would rather be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. The obvious response to this question is, where else would your business be able to reach as many potential prospects for as reasonable a cost as social media?

That simple logic aside, there are statistical arguments to support leaving the small pond mentality. Although it is nice being established in a stable, smaller environment, the overall consumer populations are moving to social media when making purchasing decisions.  Soon, that small pond will dry up until it’s merely a puddle and business opportunities will dwindle to obsolescence.  There is evidence that this is already becoming the trend. According to a recent study by research team Aberdeen Group, 41% of Best-in-Class companies have incorporated social media with their marketing strategies. (Best-in-Class is rated as businesses that cite 20% annual revenue growth and 73% annual customer retention rate).

From a search engine optimization point, social media makes it easier to lower barriers to conversion and turn prospects into content evangelists, organically growing your search.  The cost of purchasing Google Adwords is no small feat when you are offering a product in a highly dense keyword category.  If you are a small start-up or mom and pop store, buying keywords is most likely not high ranking on your marketing budget.  Relevant and heavy content is your opportunity to stay afloat.  Social media marketing provides numerous opportunities for small businesses to upload heavy and relevant content through their blogs, fan pages, Twitter accounts, and ultimately get their pages ranked with Google. 

From a marketing perspective, the important element driving the surge in social media word of mouth advertising is trust.  The value of trust between friends and colleagues is gained when consumers are making purchasing decisions. It is exactly this sentiment that drives word-of-mouth advertising, and now social media.  Understanding this, full disclosure is vital when conducting business online.

Finally, consumers use social web so they can talk with each other about organizations in which they have conducted business.  Consumers can share information about their personal experiences and their feelings about the products and services they received. Some business owners might answer, “Well I am not ready for my customers to talk about me or my place of business in an open forum”.  Truth be told, if you are a business owner, consumers are already talking about you. If you are not participating in the conversation, you are implying that you endorse what is being said . . . good or bad!

To summarize with my fish metaphor, don’t fall downstream by failing to get on the social media wagon. Advertising was once a means for consumers to learn about new products and services. Today, advertising is merely a start into the process of learning about products and services that consumers may want or need. Nobody sets out to make poor decisions when it comes to making a purchase.  Rightly or wrongly, people use the internet to make informed decisions. If you are a business owner and you wish to be seen and heard, social media is a must. Rather than ask why should you care about social media . . .  you should be asking how soon can I get started?