February 13, 2012
OPEN Forum Message
Watch MSNBC's Your Business
If you missed this week's show or want to catch up on past episodes, you can find the videos on OPEN Forum.
View videos
Featured Response
“”
Pieter Borremans
According to a study conducted by online survey provider Zoomerang, only 44 percent of small-business decision-makers currently market their companies using social media—that is, more than 1 out of every 2 small businesses don’t have a strong social media presence: a surprising number, considering the facts.
According to a report by crowdsourcing design agency Crowdspring, 50 percent of small-business owners reported getting new customers from social media. Furthermore, 51 percent of Facebook users and 64 percent of Twitter followers are more likely to buy from the brands they follow. The best part? It costs next to nothing compared to some of the traditional marketing campaigns on which businesses have been spending their hard-earned dollars. So why aren’t more companies taking advantage of this cheap new way to market?
Social media marketing is an ever-evolving environment. We understand that keeping up can be a challenge for the time-strapped small-business owner. So if you’re one of the 56 percent that hasn’t yet joined the conversation your customers are having on Facebook, for example, our article, “Social Media 101: A Guide to the Top 5 Social Media Tools for Business,” will help you figure out which tool is best for what you want to get out of social media. Perhaps you already have a healthy number of fans on Facebook but are considering buying fans for that extra boost. You may reconsider after reading our article, “Love for Sale: Should You Buy Facebook Fans?”
Our complete list of articles below will help you figure out the basics, explore the different ways your business can find new customers and dig a little deeper to better understand the many uses of social media and where the trend is headed—all this in an effort to help you become a little more comfortable marketing your business and finding new customers using the incredible opportunities made available by social media.
The Basics
Social Media 101: A Guide to the Top 5 Social Media Tools for Business
A Quick Guide to Tumblr for Business
How Pinterest Can Benefit Your Small Business
How to Maintain a Stellar Facebook Fan Page
How to Leverage Facebook’s Timeline Tool
6 Surefire Ways to Capture More ‘Likes’ on Facebook
How to Craft the Perfect Social Media Contest
5 Tips for Using LinkedIn’s Mobile Site
Should You Hire a Social Media Consultant or Create an In-House Position?
5 Common Social Media Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Getting Customers
Which Social Media Site Really Wins You Clients?
How to Build a Blog Following
9 Hot Facebook-Marketing Tips for Business
Love for Sale: Should You Buy Facebook Fans?
’90 Percent of My Business Comes From Social Media’
Dig Deeper
Google+ vs. Facebook: Which Is Best for Business?
How Small Business Beats Big Business at Social Media
Infographic: A History of the Business of Social Media
Need more? Tell us what else you'd like to know about using social media for your business.
Photo credit: iStock
Check your balance, review recent transactions and pay your bill on the go.
Pieter Borremans 3 months ago
Turning Social Media into a real Key Sucess Factor is not as easy as it looks. Alot of them fail :/ And this aspect is so evolving its hard to tell when you master all the social media secrets.