Are Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter good advertising for small business?
“Yes” and “no” depending on your particular business.
What type of business will Facebook and other social media work best?
Some Dunedin, Florida businesses including Gregory’s Salon, the Dunedin Fine Art Center, the Dunedin Brewery and the Dunedin Blue Jays, are using Facebook or MySpace as a way to promote special events, entertainers and games to current customers. Click here to see Gregory’s MySpace page. These Facebook pages make sense especially for young people looking for something to do “tonight” or this weekend. It’s free and the respective staffs do all the work. I recommend Facebook and MySpace to night clubs, bars and other places with live entertainment which changes often.
Why not use Facebook and Twitter?
By definition Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter are social media. They do have some business applications but they are designed to exchange personal information (conversations, photos, ideas, games, etc.) among families and friends.
Are your customers or potential customers using the technology? Facebook and Twitter skew young, especially Twitter. If the bulk of your audience is still using other communication– TV, newspaper, direct mail, email, etc. - then why push Facebook or Twitter? Trying to push customers and potential customers into a new media behavior is expensive and unnecessary 90% of the time.
Social media is labor intense. You need to be making changes or updates every day or even several times a day.Do you have enough content to share via a free application or widget on Facebook or a Twitter feed? Social users expect companies that engage in this space to be active. If you just create something and infrequently update the content users are left unfulfilled.
Facebook and Twitter don't do a good job of targeting. Social media does not demo or geo-target so you would be talking literally to the whole world, not necessarily your market area.
Facebook pages are not open to the general public like your web site. The owners of Facebook pages have to physically agree for someone to become a “friend.” People become “friends” on Facebook because they are attracted to the content or people. Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are groups of people who share a common interest and what to exchange information.
“Facebook is the last place I would use to look up a business service. Google, Yahoo or any other Internet browsers are a better ways to look for information, products and services,” is a typical opinion.
But the big companies use Twitter? I saw on TV during the British Open that Stewart Cink had more than 500,000 followers on Twitter.
The big national and international companies and personalities are using Facebook, MySpace and Twitter because their market is literally the whole world. They also have the staff and dollars to do a good job in this media. If you business comes from a few miles around your business, why spend time and money going after customers that will never travel to your location? Conversely, if your customers come from all over the United States or the world, than Facebook and Twitter might make sense.
How can I use my web site better and can I use social media with my web site?
You can add a blog (see Julie Scales blog as an example) to your current web sites and give free tips to your current customers and potential customers about ways to save money or improve something.
Distribute a nice looking and informative email to your existing customers and link the email to your blog. Use emails to get people to go to your blog. Send new emails (an eblast) once per quarter and update the blog weekly with new helpful information.
Add an email collection system to your web site offer free helpful information. Add these new emails to each eblast.
The key to blogs and emails is to provide really useful information, not a sales pitch. If the recipients feel the blog or emails are only a sales pitch, they will tune out and mark your emails as Spam or Junk.
Make sure your web site address is featured in all your other advertising. Most people find web sites through traditional advertising. Build your web site “brand name” and then use the web site as a way to provide new information at low cost.
Use your staff to collect email addresses for potential customers and send them special eblast with money saving tips and good advice.
Email information to your current customers and offer them incentives for new business they refer.
Continue advertising that you know works! If you can measure results of specific advertising (TV, newspaper, direct mail, etc.) continue and refine what works.
Make sure “the latest and great thing” makes sense for your business before you invest time and money.
