Editor’s note: This blog post originally appeared on the DivergingSoul blog.
Big brands may have the big budgets to spend on big advertising campaigns, but according to SocialMouths‘ Francisco Rosales, small businesses have the advantage when it comes to social media. Through social media, small businesses can interact on a personal level with customers, forming trust and loyalty. Rosales offers 5 reasons small businesses can take home the social media gold:
Strategy. Or not? Small businesses have a much smaller checklist than big brands when it comes to social marketing. To get started, your small business needs the necessary product and industry knowledge, social network sensibility, and a set of goals (both daily and long term). “Having a set of goals in place and knowing what you are aiming to achieve with your daily activities is enough for an entrepreneur to dive in and adjust as needed.” In contrast, in order for big brands to succeed they need heavy documentation defining brand representation, language, tone, crisis management, employee involvement and outsourcing, among other items.
Being Human No matter how hard they try, it is nearly impossible for big brands to form true engagement with customers. Indeed, small businesses have it much easier. In a small business, an individual can become the voice of the company – building trust, solving problems, offering advice, and personally interacting with its customers. This voice may even be the company President, while big brand CEOs remain distant.
Satisfaction Small businesses are able to ensure customer satisfaction and provide good customer service quicker, more personally, and more efficiently over social networks than big businesses. It is often difficult to get in touch with big brands, and communication with them over social networks can get drowned out and often all together ignored.
Management A smaller social media management team allows for small businesses to handle issues with honesty and ensure satisfaction more efficiently than a big business, who will often instead take a damage control approach.
ROI While big brands have big, messy numbers to sort through and calculate to measure their ROI, small businesses can take a much simpler approach. They can measure their cost on time spent, rather than money spent on media. They can also measure their success on social networks through directly asking sources how they came across the business, or through the number of personal connections formed.
Big brands may win out in the all-around, but when it comes to social media, they can’t stick their landing. With a few goals, a focus on customer satisfaction, and a personal touch, small businesses are favored to take home the social media gold.
Sources:
Social Mouths – Small Business Advantage Over Brands in Social Media
Infographic from Social Mouths – Small Business in Social Media