Small businesses naturally tend to focus on daily actions that generate results, such as engaging prospects with their sales process, and then efficiently converting that interest into profits.
Advertising is a form of media that fits well with the small business mindset. It creates awareness, a sense of urgency, and a desire to take action now.
Unlike traditional advertising campaigns, social media takes time to do its job.
This is one reason why many small businesses are challenged with using it well. They view it as another form of advertising.
This also leads to the temptation to set up business pages on every social network to drive traffic to your websites.
This is not a good idea – especially when so many others are doing the same thing.
If you really want to drive traffic to your website – get personal. Learn how to use social media to humanize your business. It’s a simple process, one that admittedly takes time – but it works.
If you learn how to do this right, you will indeed differentiate your business – and in ways that are much more sustainable than traditional marketing practices.
Personal is More Trustworthy
Traditional marketing makes claims, often with competitive comparisons that may or may not be true. Some of these claims include being the best, the most awarded, and so on.
As a result, consumers have learned not to trust advertising. They have learned from experience that if something seems too good to be true – it probably isn’t.
Now every claim is challenged. This is why more consumers rely on the Internet to validate what they have learned from other sources – including word of mouth recommendations from friends.
What are they looking for? Not more marketing – that’s for sure.
Consumers are searching the web for reliable information – not necessarily from companies, but from real people who offer perspectives that are backed up by direct experience.
This is the power of content marketing - bringing truthfulness to the marketing equation.
Personalization is your strongest differentiator, and that is best accomplished via your personal social media accounts – and those of your team members.
Who you are is unique – and that is a business differentiator. It’s subtle, but it is nonetheless true.
The Company is Incidental
Anyone who manages a business presence on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ knows that it can be difficult to engage others. Why?
People have conversations with people – not companies.
You are more likely to engage your audience with a personal account – one where they can get to know and trust you.
Look at this from the perspective of a customer. When you receive outstanding service, you are more likely to recommend not just the company – but the person within it that was responsible for your favorable experience.
The company is incidental. What matters is who personally made a difference for you.
People Take Care of People
It has been said the best way to build a business is not to focus on the consumer, but those who serve them.
Have you ever been unsatisfied and ready to discontinue your relationship with a business – only to change your mind due to just one interaction with an especially caring representative?
That’s the power of personalization. When someone cares about you, its memorable.
This is also why personal social media accounts that are linked to a business can accomplish more than a business account.
Businesses often wonder if they can trust their staff to represent the company well online.
This is pretty simple. If you do not trust your staff to represent your company online, then you have the wrong people. If they are now successful offline, then they can do it online too.
As long as they respect the company, its vision and mission, and most importantly, its values – then let them be who they are.
Your staff will use social networking differently than you. That’s OK. Let them be themselves – because that personalization is the magic that makes it work.
Successful business is people taking care of people.
There just is no other way.
How exactly is this done?
This related article on Personal vs Professional Social Media Accounts will give you some ideas for further personalizing your online presence.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.
About the Author: Jeff Korhan, MBA, helps mainstream small businesses create exceptional customer experiences that accelerate business growth. Get more from Jeff on LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+.
Jeff is also the author of Built-In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business – Just Released April 2013 (Wiley)
Photo Credit: krishnan
I really like your approach and your advice. It’s true, social media seems to be changing the way marketing works forever.
Andre – The last five years or so are significantly changed from when I got started in the ’80′s. Everything is much looser – and easier.
It’s all about just helping people get what they want!
Very interesting- we just had someone call us yesterday about one of our online retail websites to ask if we were “real”. I guess they didn’t see the video on the about us page. But there is concern if the site has “real” people working for it. We did receive an order. They must have realized answering the phone on a Sunday we are for real.
Lisa – That is a great story!
You really have to be in the small business trenches to appreciate how cool that is. Congratulations.
Agree that people talk to people which in some ways makes it difficult for a business page to be engaging, but it also eases the burden of that kind of conversation that can possibly get you in the weeds… Being a brand/business you can just stand up and then ‘like’ what people say rather than talk to them
Mike – I see your point. So, for those who cannot or will not make the effort, better to just be a brand and lighten the responsibility.
Mixing our personal accounts with business accounts is not a good idea indeed but it is the only way to achieve certain amounts of goals in less time. Please keep one thing in mind if you are managing clients business than please avoid my approach of mixing personal social media account with business account because more than 90% persons are delivering service to different clients at the same time so it difficult to use same account for different business.
I just forwarded this article to a few clients who think I should be putting on more “sales info” on their social marketing sites…..don’t understand when I talk about issues or happenings of the day in the community…..
Nancy – This article was actually inspired by a full day consultation with a new client. I later shared this with them as we continue our work – and I’m pleased that we are now finding our way.
Get the mindset right and everything else eventually falls into place!
So you suggest having a business account where you can create ads, custom ad tabs, then like it from your personal account. And communicate with friends and customers using the personal account? I guess what I am asking is for an average day scenario for a business owner that wants to advertise and put their brand out there while unseeing your suggested method.
Just an example please.