If you’re a small business, odds are your social media is grossly ineffective. I recently completed an analysis of 25 local businesses surrounding a 10 mile radius of where I live (Winfield, IL) and I found that only about 20% of these businesses are using social media effectively. The numbers are as follows:
Facebook Average Engagement Score 10 or over = 18% of small businesses
*Clicks, Shares and Comments on posts
At Least 1% of social followers are interacting with the brand regularly = 18% of small businesses
Active on Social Media at all (within the past 6 months) = 77% of small businesses
Active on more than 1 social media site = 41% of small businesses
Using Geo-Targeting or Paid Techniques on social media = 9% of small businesses
But don’t feel bad it’s not your fault. Like many things in life no one ever showed you how to do it properly. The fact is, if you are using the same social media techniques you were using a few years ago, then you’re probably doing it wrong. Because, like in many areas of life, things change all the time. The modern social media techniques are vast, and hands down the cheapest, and most effective way to market and advertise your small business.
Social media is a multi-billion dollar industry now, and marketers and advertisers are harnessing it’s power to create big impacts on their business. Pay for social media? Yep, that’s what I’m talking about.
The cool thing is that as a small business you have access to the exact same information and reach that everyone else does – it is truly a level playing field.. I know what you’re thinking, “that’s true and all but everyone else is spending so much more money than me – I can’t compete”. Wrong again. The beauty of social media is that there is no “dead space”, meaning that you never pay to promote your product or service to anyone you don’t want to see it. So, that creates incredibly targeted reaches that anyone (yes anyone with the know how) can reach. Even you.
Companies that are embracing this new medium of paid social are having great successes, and I know this first hand. My company manages modern social media campaigns for small businesses and in a very short time can make them relevant again, and drive more traffic to a local promotion then they ever thought possible. So my advice is to embrace the modern style, understand you are probably going to need to pay for social media to make it effective. Then go out and get noticed
