So let’s look as fictional small business owner Joe Smith. Joe sells and repairs bicycles in the town of “Anytown” population 18,500 in Canada. Joe loves bikes. New, used, accessories, rentals, repairs, his store does it all. He also belongs to three bike clubs, the chamber in his town, and the BIA. Joe recently went to a great seminar on how to use Facebook and Twitter for business.
Knowing that many of his customers and potential customers use social networking, Joe decided to do it. After all, it was working well for the Bakery down the street! Although Joe knew lots about bikes, he knew very little about computers and didn’t love the marketing aspect of business. Sitting on a computer was not where he wanted to be. With the help of the seminar, Joe created a Facebook Page and Twitter account for his business. Joe was told that he or his employees know the business the best, so they should post! Knowing his employees were busy selling and repairing, and his office staff were already pushed to the limit, Joe put on the social media hat. What would he say? Did people really want to hear that? Thanks to the seminar Joe managed to make it through the first few weeks with posts about his business. When he couldn’t think of anything creative or was too busy he would say he was “going for lunch”
The next task was engaging an audience. Who would he engage? Where would he find them? How would he know if they were listening to him? This was starting to take more than a “few minutes each day”. In the busy world of small business management some days didn’t have “a few minutes” in them for something that was so new, and offered no initial measurable ROI. A few months passed, and Joe’s Tweets and Facebook posts became less frequent. He had uploaded some pictures from his “spring bike event”, but the day to day social media engagement had ended weeks ago. Joe's audience was no longer engaged. His bike shop extended their summer hours but he forgot to post it. Joe's website underwent a makeover but he forgot to tell anyone. The bike shop would have to try social media another time, when Joe had more time. For now he places a considerable sized ad in next Friday’s newspaper. The ad rep will create his print ad for him with some input from Joe. Someone at the newspaper will place it on one of the pages for him, and at least some of the community will look at it on that day. Yes Joe paid for space but his fee also covered the creative marketing along with it.
In my opinion, this is when social media goes from being new and exciting and exhilerating to time consuming, hard work, repetitious, and possibly boring. Realistically within one year’s time of Getting Social, many small businesses are not Staying Social because some "expert" out there told them what a bad idea outsourcing is for social media! I’m not talking about some computer tech that knows the in’s and out’s of Google, and how to use every social media platform going, I’m talking about a marketing manager that works on behalf of your company, and helps you to perform your social media campaign to ensure consistency, relevancy, audience engagement, growth and longevity.
When will Social Media be considered a traditional form of advertising like print, or radio? After all, in the end it's about getting your message to your audience. Does the small business owner still need to be involved? Of course! They need to know their audience, whether online or in person, that’s a given.
What would have happened if Joe had said, “This isn’t working. I need some help to keep it going”. For a price similar to his traditional advertising, he could have had daily engagement with a growing audience of followers AND the ability to personally post his great pictures, mingle with his followers, make comments, and still concentrate on the parts of the business he loves, his bikes! Ok traditional media people, don’t go crazy, I’m not suggesting businesses should stop their traditional advertising. Bottom line is DO WHAT WORKS!
What’s better?
- Try Social Media and let it fizzle out because you couldn't keep up or because you handed it off to an employee as part of their new “job description” (listed under other duties as required)?
- If you recognize it’s becoming a struggle, contract a marketer that can help you come up with a plan to keep you social and work for the best interest of your business?
Wishing You the Best Today and Everyday,
Barb Bruce
705-927-5953
service@myradius.ca
