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The Top Reasons Why Social Media Is Placing Power In The Hands Of Small Business

We have all heard of the amazing success stories of companies using the world of social media. In fact, Inc. magazine says that the nation’s fastest-growing private companies are making use of social media. Forbes magazine calls social media a foundational shift that is here to stay.

The question still remains, is it appropriate for a smaller business? It may be great that JetBlue is using Twitter for customer service, Dell has an incredible Facebook presence or BestBuy is training all sales associates to use social media. But what about the 20+ million companies in America that have no payroll? How about the companies that have employees, but no significant marketing budget? Is social media appropriate for them?

The answer is yes. Social media is a new marketing fundamental that encompasses strategies that no company should operate without. There are tremendous opportunities for every business with the knowledge and desire to use social media as a competitive advantage.

Below is part one of a list of the Top 10 reasons why social media is a marketing necessity for ALL companies – from solo entrepreneurs all the way through to Fortune 500 companies.

1. Getting Ranked High In Google Is A “No Brainer” For Your Business

People don’t surf the net, they search. 40% of all consumer spending and 85% of all B2B transactions begin today with a web search. Every business needs to come up within search engine rankings for those keywords that surround what it is that you do or offer as a company. There are over 18 billion searches that happen each and every month in this country. If you are not represented in the search engine rankings, you are missing out on one of the largest opportunities that is proven to embody people searching for brands that have the right products and services to meet their needs. They are hot prospects!

2. Marketing Exposure For Little To No Budget

Most people and companies have in common two extremely precious treasures, their money and their time. In this economy, for many companies, placing more money behind marketing is no longer an option. Thus, ideas that can be implemented with just the appropriate know-how and simple elbow grease are critical. This is the case for social media and why it is such a hot topic. Tremendous new marketing opportunities are unfolding daily for every business through the use of social media. And all they require is an understanding of the ever evolving online tools and how to get started.

3. Social Media Prospecting Is Easier Than Ever

Finding the right highly targeted audiences is easier than ever with social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. People identify themselves and their needs by what they say online. If you are using the tools to listen well, you can intersect with them at the time of their need. This is a highly relevant way to find the highest quality of leads…and with tools that are the best at then following up and starting a conversation. These tools are social networks aren’t they, specifically designed towards one-on-one and viral communications!

4. It Is One Of The Fastest Ways To Build Your Expert Reputation

As long as you have been successful in business and have customers or clients that believe in you, you have the means to establish credibility, and trust in your brand online. These are critical factors to closing your fair share of the prospects discussed above. One out of two new people you meet in business will search for you online. The search engine results are a third party opportunity for you two shine by controlling the top page of rankings with everything you want people to know about you. Top page rankings aren’t as hard to “own” as you would think because the combination of your name and business name are not only the most popular search combinations for you, but are very low competitive search phrases. Thus, it is very easy to manage what people see. Especially those that you are directly prospecting!

5. A 180 Degree Change from Traditional Marketing

I call it PUSH versus PULL marketing. Traditional marketing (radio, newspaper, direct mail, etc.) is like casting out big marketing nets trying to catch the right people, or pushing your message at intended recipients. Sure, you can target using demographics, past behaviors, geography, etc., but how can you ever tell if you are reaching those prospects that are truly interested in what you offer as they have determined that they need it most? And traditional marketing costs money to reach each and every prospect, no matter their value to your business. In social media, interested prospects find you by typing keywords into a search engine or by you listening to what they are saying. They PULL themselves towards you by taking a specific action on their own that identifies their needs. This is a highly qualified prospect versus one blanketed by traditional marketing. They are literally raising their hands and identifying themselves as great prospects for your business. And the best part is that with social media, these hand-raisers don’t cost you a dime. Prospecting, blogging, writing articles, posting video, etc. are all free social media strategies to intersect with highly qualified prospects, allowing people to pull themselves towards you.

The author, Steve MacDonald, is the founder of the Practical Social Media University…a social media training ground for entrepreneurs.

The Practical Social Media University strives to help small business entrepreneurs use social media to find new clients and customers. You can use social media to tap into the great web of customers and clients out there, and before you know it, business will be booming! That’s because social media is everywhere, and almost everyone is involved! So, why not give it a try?

Here is one example of dozens of testimonials for the University written on Yelp, the world’s largest third party reviews and rating company for businesses. “The training & help I have received from Steve MacDonald and the Practical Social Media University is priceless. I use to think of myself as being pretty good at Social Media and I actually have trained a ton of consultants using Social Media tools but the things I have learned from Practical Social Media were very eye opening, helpful, practical, mostly FREE, and have grown my business tremendously! I can’t thank Steve MacDonald enough for all the help he has given  me, it has provided more time with my family and less stress financially.” To see more reviews, video testimonials and social media raves for yourself on the university, please visit our reviews page at practicalsocialmedia.com/university-reviews/.

Quote from Steve MacDonald, Founder of the Practical Social Media University, “The most powerful marketing tools available today remain virtual unknowns to the business community. However, the more interesting point is that they also cost next to nothing to implement…as long as you know where to start and what to do. Welcome to social media marketing!”