Are you an SMB that struggles to integrate social media? Apparently you’re not alone. In a recent article published by eMarketer, the percentages showed about 50% of SMB’s don’t currently use social media to engage their audience. About 25% don’t even plan to in the next 12 months. That’s amazing, and telling.
Considering the massive amount of people that use social media, on a personal and professional level, I’m a bit surprised. I understand it’s hard to break old habits, it’s hard to form new habits, and time is hard to come by, but you’re missing out on the largest marketing opportunity today. Listen, you don’t have to engage in some massive Facebook campaign, or buy sponsored tweets, or do a PPC campaign on LinkedIn, but you need to take some baby steps and get engaged.
Whether you’re a small niche, B2C or B2B, small or medium, you can, and should, start small. Get social media profiles at the “big 4”, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Do some online research to learn more about each network if you don’t know how to use them. Hubspot and Mashable (.com) have many resources to teach you the ropes.
Lastly, if you’re an SMB and not using social media, talk to your friends and other business owners. Ask them how they’re doing it. If you think that sounds like a good idea, then you already have a good understanding of the power of social media. It’s OK to have not started…just don’t wait any longer.