January 14, 2010

25% of small business owners said they plan to spend more on social networking in 2010, according to the Ad-ology Small Business Marketing Forecast.

Facebook ranked as the most beneficial social network for small businesses, followed by LinkedIn and Twitter, according to the November 2009 report. The 1,100 small business owners surveyed said the biggest benefits of social networking were the abilities to generate leads, keep up with their industry, and monitor the online conversation about their business.

But despite the enormous growth of business presences on social networking sites, there are still many misconceptions about how best to use social media.  To help cut through the hype, here are a few social media myths dispelled.

Myth #1: Small Businesses Must be on Social Media

Ad-ology's study found that 31% of small business owners said they don’t use social media because their customers don’t use it. If that’s the case, find where your customers are and the best way to reach them there.

Warren Sukernek, partner and vice president of strategies at Lift9, said there’s a rush to get on Twitter and launch a blog without a plan. He stressed that spending time up front doing analysis, research, and goal setting will make a social media plan easy to execute.

He recommended first getting active as a lurker on different social media networks to see what’s happening and what people are saying. For example, check out what other companies are doing on Twitter and then assess what you like and don’t like.

Sukernek also pointed out that social media fits more naturally for certain types of businesses, but that doesn’t mean other businesses shouldn’t be on there. It may just take more time to build an audience.

“I wouldn’t dissuade that B2B company from dipping a toe in. It might make sense to dip a toe in a different pool of water,” he said.  He suggested that being on an industry-specific forum or LinkedIn might work better in some cases than being on Twitter.

Depending on what the goals are, gathering competitive intelligence might turn out to be what’s most valuable to a business, according to Sukernek.

“It’s hard to put a price tag on that,” he said. 

Myth #2: Set It and Forget It

Don’t expect a case of build it and they will come. Sukernek compared it to building a brick-and-mortar store and not putting a sign on the outside.

“You’ve got to promote it,” he said.

Cross promote your web site with the pages you set up on social media sites. Sukernek advised integrating these social media sites into your business’ offline activities. For example, a retailer should list their fan page URL and Twitter name along with its company’s web site.

Time spent on social media efforts depends on the type of business and the goals involved, according to Sukernek. Goals should be distilled down to revenue and key performance metrics.

“Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Set some reasonable, manageable objectives,” he said.

Myth #3: Word of Mouth Presence Isn’t There

Sukernek said small businesses think that if no one is talking specifically about their company on social networks, they don’t need to be there. He disagrees.

“They’re talking about subjects that are germane to the brand,” he said.

On the other hand, what if your small business is being talked about on social media in a bad way? Sukernek said people are probably already doing that, and suggests it's better for small businesses to be aware of it and address it directly on those platforms.

Myth #4: Social Media is Only for Broadcasting Messages

Treating social media as a one-way communication channel is an approach that’s doomed to fail. Check in with your fans and followers by asking for feedback, responding to questions and comments, and being personable to build relationships with customers.

“It’s conversational. It’s dialogue,” Sukernek said.

Concerns of small businesses on social media aren’t much different than those of large companies. For those businesses that aren’t careful, subscribing to these social media myths can result in some big mistakes.

Image courtesy of istockphoto.com, khz

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Join the conversation ( 6 )

• Thursday Bram 2 years 4 months and 1 days ago

  

  It can be very important to know the norms of a social media platform before joining in, but it's worth remembering that you don't have to have perfect knowledge to start. I've seen a number of businesses procrastinate, using the excuse that they didn't know enough about the platform.If you're brand new to a platform, you can get something of a pass on at least a few breaches of etiquette on those platforms —you want to minimize those, of course, but you can use that fact to start using the platform sooner.

• PATTI BUNKER 2 years 4 months and 3 days ago

  

  I strongly agree that small businesses must do proper research, analysis and planning before jumping in to social media or blogging. To do it right takes time and if it won't benefit the business might not be time well spent. In addition, that planning time helps a business figure out how to handle my myths 2-3. Good article.

• Michael Gold 2 years 4 months and 6 days ago

  

  Correctly utilizing social media can help businesses improve in the areas of sales, marketing and customer service. In sales, the web is generally the first point of contact that a potential customer will have with a business. If you can utilize that first impression to showcase your personality and engage a business prospect in meaningful conversation, you will ultimately save time down the road. Think about this. If every one of your business prospects were genuinely interested in what your business offers, how much time would you save in pointless meetings with prospects that are "just being polite?"For marketing and customer service, you can first observe, then join the conversation. The beauty of it is that you get to keep your finger on the pulse of your customers' needs and wants in real time.Since a lot of people have been using the terms "social media" and "social networks" interchangeably, I'll offer this analogy. Say for example, I advised a business owner, who hasn't ever golfed, to consider playing golf in order to better engage her customers and meet new prospects. So, she spends a day at the driving range taking a lesson and hitting golf balls. Later, she plays 9 holes and she realizes she's in a foursome with people she has nothing in common with. She's frustrated. So far, she's invested time and gotten nothing out of it. Is playing golf a bad idea for her? Should she give it up? Maybe she's playing at the wrong country club. Maybe her clients were playing golf across town. In this analogy golf is "social media" and the country club is the "social network." Facebook, Twitter and Linked in are just "social networks." If your clients aren't conversing there, they may be talking somewhere else online. It's important to consider that before giving up on adopting of social media as part of your business strategy.

• Leon Hunt 2 years 4 months and 6 days ago

  

  I agree with Warren as a small business owner the last thing I want to do is ignore the etiquete of the said medium due to my over enthusiatic market message. I am working my way through each medium in turn. I started with twitter as it was the easiest. early on I tweeted everything I soon learned that people switched off so now I only post hot topics and critical market segment news.and I think I have acieved a nice balance.

• Warren Sukernek 2 years 4 months and 7 days ago

  

  Steve, fair judgment, so let me expand on lurking/ observing. A company should get to know the norms of the platform/ community before jumping in and commenting indiscriminately or selling when they should be telling. Thus, get the lay of the land before you dive in and get wet.

• Steve Buttry 2 years 4 months and 7 days ago

  

  I strongly disagree with Sukernek's advice about lurking to learn whether a social platform is right for you. You need to interact to truly learn about a social network. I've read too many ignorant commentaries by people who spent a few days (if that) lurking on Twitter and didn't learn a thing. You need to dive in and get wet.