These days social media is a vital tool for business owners to be able to connect with their customers and clients – but for many small business owners, it continues to be a challenge. Not only can it require a lot of time and energy, but it also takes a very clear, careful, and clever strategy to ensure that social media helps your business, rather than hinders it.
Here are some of the challenges you might face, how a successful social media will help, and what to do if you just can’t do it!
The challenges and risks of social media
There are three major challenges that small business owners tend to face when it comes to social media marketing:
Time
Most small business owners have limited or next to no spare time to plan and execute a successful strategy. When you are bogged down in the day-to-day management of your business, finding extra time for social media can be difficult.
Knowledge
Many small business owners simply don’t have enough knowledge within the social media space. And that’s understandable; you just can’t be an expert in everything. Social media can be very tricky to get right.
Negativity
No one really likes bad feedback or a grumpy customer. And if that grumpy customer posts negative feedback on social media, all of a sudden the entire world can read about it. How you respond can make or break you, so beware!
The benefits of social media success
But while there are always challenges and risks, the benefits of a well-executed social media strategy run far and wide. In the twenty-first century just about everyone is on some form of social media. For businesses, it allows you to connect and engage with your customers on their level. It provides a ‘voice’ for your business and allows a forum for positive reviews for the whole world to see.
Many customers will find your business via social media and are more likely to purchase or engage your services if you have a strong and positive presence.
Outsourcing might be the answer
If you get to the point where you just aren’t finding the time to give your social media the attention that it deserves, or you are finding that you just don’t have enough knowledge, outsourcing this function of your business might be a good idea – just as you might do your small business accounting, or messaging service.
Outsourcing saves having to employ anyone in-house (which is often out of the question for a small business). More importantly, though, it frees you up to look after the aspects of your business at which you excel. There are many marketing companies and consultants who specialise in social media, with the ability to create and execute a highly successful social media marketing plan.
Sometimes all it takes is some professional guidance to put an effective strategy in place for you to execute, or sometimes it can be better to just leave it to the experts entirely!
So if your social media isn’t working as well as you had hoped or would like, it might be time to take a different approach. If it’s used badly, your business will most likely suffer. If it’s used well, it can be invaluable, contributing to your business’s continued growth and success.
* * * Disclaimer: No person should act on the general information in this article without taking specific advice from a qualified adviser. * * *