Today is the day of the lean and mean enterprise, these lightweight and fast guys are ruling the roost and literally changing the name of the game. Rules are being re-written and the sky is the limit to those who have the will and the plan to execute. There are many examples of such small heavyweights in the IT space now. This brings in a pertinent question, “How important is Social Media for an SMB?†Let us try and get to that discussion today.
When you are a small or a medium sized company, your targets and aspirations are always big and the need for traction is more vital. SMBs are always on the lookout for scalable and cost effective ways to get more out of less. One of the most important functions that can help an SMB make its presence felt is effective marketing and cost effective means to create a buzz. This is where a concerted and well executed Social Media campaign can be indispensable. After all brands get created and destroyed online now-a-days. And a top of the mind brand recall is invaluable to an SMB
Companies of all sizes grapple with how much to spend and how to spend on social media. The point is that while the medium is very vast and powerful, it remains a tough beast to tame. The very size and complexity involved in planning and handling a social media campaign, make it a very hard task.
When a small sized company is faced with the task of optimization of resources, Social Media presents itself as the only option that is feasible. The ability to create and run a campaign that is always fresh in the minds of people creates a very good traction in favor of the company. Moreover Social Media as a medium comes with built-in ease in a lot of areas. The first one is the ability to easily get a grip on the pulse among whatever is the target population for your services or products.
Next is the ease with which you can pilot a new concept or a new facet of an existing offering. Getting an initial set of people who are willing to dry run something for you and get back to you with feedback is really a breeze using Social Media. Your network and the influencers play a very essential role here and often have the power to make or break a campaign, identifying them and using them in the right way is key here.
Creating a perception and crafting an image for your brand is also relatively more manageable on Social Media. All that it takes is a creative and precise team that can execute and adjust the key aspects of a campaign. But it is easier said than done. Remember that for small companies, small blows can be big blows. So Risk mitigation and abstinence from Radical stands is a prudent thought to pursue here.
The next thing that you need to get in place is a regular and robust reporting mechanism that can clearly tell you where you stand in terms of your goals and what you need to adjust to get on track to getting there. Analysis is key here and the right data needs to be analyzed and fed into a course correcting feedback loop. This ensures that the campaign corrects dynamically to changes in responses and hence makes sense online. A flat campaign that does not accommodate feedback is literally equivalent to not having a campaign at all. That is something that no one wants, not to mention the waste of funds and resource time involved!
With all this in place, the execution has to be manned by a team with clearly planned approach and well defined roles. If all this is in place, then irrespective of whether the company is small, medium or large, social media will definitely give you an edge that can ultimately translate into marketing success.
So the summary
- SMBs need Social Media
- Social Media needs SMBs
- Plan correctly
- Analyze the correct data
- Use the analysis correctly
- Adjust campaign based on findings
- Keep reviewing and course correcting regularly