Small business marketing can be tricky. In my experience working in marketing for small business organizations, I have learned that most small business leaders do not realize the importance of marketing, lack the resources for it, and do not adequately budget for marketing activities.
In just the past 5 years, social media has done wonders for small business marketing. Small businesses can't ignore social media for these reasons:
- First and foremost, social media is either free or relatively low cost.
- Once a strategy is in place, it is not time consuming to update pages.
- It is possible to reach a large, and if necessary, international audience.
- Small businesses can network via personal connections or B2B.
One social media tool I have seen being used consistenly over the last 5 years is LinkedIn. When I started as a Sales and Marketing Manager for a small-size company in the U.S., my boss immediately had me register on LinkedIn. At this time, the goal was to find fellow partners, clients and potential clients on the LinkedIn site and connect on a personal level.
LinkedIn has since evolved and has created a world of opportunity for small businesses. I have worked for small companies in the U.S., Australia and now Italy and LinkedIn has been an important marketing tool for several reasons:
- The basic plan costs nothing. Companies can have all employees register, create a page for their company and have employees follow the company to start a fan base.
- Links to other social media. Yes, you can create a company page on LinkedIn at no cost, but it is limiting compared to Facebook, for example, where you can add photos, links, etc. Through personal status updates and posting links, you can link to other social media outlets.
- Personal connections: Put a Name to a Face. In a technology-driven world where personal connections on which small business is built are dissolving, LinkedIn adds a personal touch to business.
- Applications! Post your upcoming events, company news, company business trips (TripIt), a PowerPoint presentation of your company (Sharepoint), create polls relevant to your industry. It's all available through these free applications. Digitize your marketing material, and do it for free.
- Join Groups. Groups are one of the best ways to expose your company. Join groups related to your company, your industry, and yourself on an individual level. Then, contribute to discussions or start your own, post a link and share. Watch how many people start looking at your profile!
- Sell your talent. This is perhaps what separates LinkedIn the most from other social media sites. What makes up a company? The people. Use LinkedIn to showcase company talent. Once employees link themselves to the company, make sure their profiles showcase industry talent.
LinkedIn is different from most social media sites in that it has a business focus and business-oriented atmosphere. To put it loosely, there is no monkey business. Small businesses need this social media tool to highlight their company's USP, showcase marketing material at little or no cost and share knowledge of the industry.
The biggest challenge may be an overall strategy for LinkedIn: how to get people to follow the company? Employees, most importantly top management, need to be involved. Update regularly, participate in discussions and groups and use the analytics to track performance.
Remember: the goal of a LinkedIn strategy is not profit, it's connections. And small businesses know the importance networking.