Studies show that small businesses have the most to gain from Social Media. 88% of all small business owners found that Social Media helped them increase exposure, and 72% of those surveyed saw increased traffic and subscriptions as a result of social media.

With small business owners having to constantly stretch their marketing dollars and compete in aggressive markets, it only makes sense that one would use Social Media as part of their marketing arsenal.

Some of the top questions we hear from most clients new to social media are:

• How can I measure the ROI for social media?
• How can I integrate my social media with current marketing efforts?
• What is the best way to sell using Social Media?
• How do I get my customers to interact with Social Media?

As these are all valid questions, they all need to be addressed before a business can successfully start using Social Media to promote their business.

As with any promotion, a company shouldn’t just start running ads without first putting an advertising plan together outlining the target market, strategy, the goals of the campaign etc. The same is true for Social Media, one must identify the goals and what the company wants to get out of Social Media before running head first into a twitter posting.

With any campaign, you must also look at all the components and how they tie into current branding and marketing promotions so that you are conveying the same message. You need to look at Social Media as another tool, you may not be familiar with it outside of recreational Facebook use but it MUST be a part of your marketing strategy or you will be left in the dust of your competitors who likely already have a Twitter following hanging off their every post.

In short, what you need to consider are these few things:

How much time can I dedicate to Social Media? 

You can spend as little or as much time as you have, but there are dashboard tools that make posting to multiple Social Media sites efficient. One message can be broadcast out to your Social Media network automatically.

What information can I share?

This is a tricky one, think of your customers and what information they would find informative either about a product you carry or industry news, new technology developments or helpful hints etc. Try to leave out the sales copy, people like to use Social Media to become enlightened and informed not to be sold to.

How does it all tie in? 

All of your marketing should be directing people to one place. If you have stored all your relevant information on your website and you want people to go there, then ALL of your marketing (including your Social Media) needs to direct people there. Your email signature should have the Social Media logos and link to your network, your website should have those same logos and links. Try running specials and deals through your Social Media only, that way you can test and track the response rates.

Social Media is no different than traditional marketing, other than the way in which the message is being conveyed. It still requires planning and strategy to be successful.