Social Media is the New Word of Mouth

Building Relationships for Your Small Business

When social networks made their first appearances, few small businesses realized that they could have a significant impact on their sales and profitability. After all, where is the business opportunity in a medium that involves individuals interacting with each other?

The reality, though, is that social media is the new word of mouth marketing. Indeed, as users interact online, they share with each other, and make recommendations. Instead of calling around to friends and family when consumers want to know which businesses to patronize, and which products to buy, they now check online, sending out tweets, or looking to see what their friends recommend on Facebook.

Social media marketing allows one person to reach hundreds of people. Stop and think about your personal social networks. How many friends do you have on Facebook?

Expand Your Reach with Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing allows one person to reach hundreds of people. Stop and think about your personal social networks. How many friends do you have on Facebook? Now, imagine if just half your friends “liked” a page set up for your business, and their friends saw the result. The potential reach multiplies with each person you connect with using social media.

Social media is word of mouth marketing taken to a whole new level. A single tweet can bring attention to your product in ways that flyers around town just can’t. Instead of one person telling three or four people about your product or service, that one person has access to hundreds of people – and the potential to help you extend your reach beyond your local area.

Almost Everyone’s Online

According to a recent study from Pew Internet, daily Twitter users doubled between May 2011 and May 2012, due mostly to the fact that it’s easy to update from a smart phone. There are more than 150 million users on Twitter, and Facebook is project to hit one billion users some time in 2012. YouTube and LinkedIn both sport millions of users. No matter how small you think your business is, you are missing out on a huge opportunity if you ignore social media.

Just as people used to turn to friends for recommendations, now they go online. The interactions that consumers have online through social media are very “real” to them, and if you want your small business to build the relationships that bring in word of mouth customers, you need a social media strategy.

Build Relationships through Social Media

It’s important to realize that social media is all about building relationships, however. Understand that you can’t just put up a Facebook page and expect people to throng to your place of business. You can’t start blasting self-promoting tweets to all your followers all the time. The hard thing about building relationships through social media is that it is a little more difficult and time consuming than traditional word of mouth advertising.

Your presence on social media needs to:

• Provide helpful, relevant useful information that consumers can use.
• Demonstrate your expertise in an area, or showcase the superiority of your product.
• Focus on the customers. Ask questions and request feedback. Run polls, and ask for comments about your latest product or service.
• Interact with customers, showing that you are “real” and that you are interested in building a true relationship.
• Offer exclusive specials and insider deals. Every now and then, you need to let them know that they are appreciated as customers, and that following you on Twitter, or liking you on Facebook comes with special perks no one else has access to.

With the right strategy, you can build up relationships over time, and encourage your social media fans and followers to start sharing with others. Social media offers you a chance to tap the power of word of mouth marketing with a larger audience, but you have to be willing to put in the time.

What social media efforts are you making to engage your customers and potential customers?