I’d like to start with an excerpt from a a recent Gregg Morris post. This is an email from one of his associates, expressing frustration at an inability to convince small businesses to engage in social media marketing:

Social networking is making zero inroads into any of the businesses (SMBs) we have visited and interest in “mining” those networks is similarly zero.  It’s not that they are rejected as future possibilities, but rather that SMBs haven’t time for it, since they sense the costs far exceed the benefits … The facts are the facts – SMBs are still the same as they always were: overworked, scratching for dollars, but now fighting even harder for market share. They are competing not just with local competition but also with online, distant suppliers and, of course, big box retailers.

To the point: Joe average – architect, restaurant owner, retail store – are not stupid, nor are they unaware of the need to handle their customers better. All I see … is the same, stupid Social CRM Expert-type of messaging. A bunch of esoteric bullshit skimming the surface of the problem, with no real solution offered. Everywhere I look, they all say the same thing: “You have to communicate with your customer…”, “you need to serve your customer…”, “you need to do this, that or the other…”. Lots of “you needs”, but few “here’s exactly how”

This little rant hit a chord for me because I teach a social media marketing class for small businesses and I constantly hear these same concerns.

There is a business cultural gap that is keeping many SMB’s from working this channel: Typical SMB ”advertising” is a hand-off. All the work is done by an ad agency and/or the advertising sales people.  There is little personal time expenditure and the cost/benefit is usually easily measurable. Not so with social media marketing.  There is more hands-on doing and the results may not be immediate.

When I consult with small businesses, I recognize that for many, the time commitments and demands of maintaining a consistent, effective presence seems overwhelming so I help them cut through the hype and FOCUS.  I encourage them to consider five very practical questions:

1) Do I know enough about social media marketing to make the right decision for my business?  Not knowing the possibilities would be the same disadvantage as operating a business without knowing such a thing as television advertising existed.

2) What is mybusiness strategy and how could a social toolkit align with my key initiatives?

3) Are my customers using the social web?

4) Are my competitors using this channel, and what are the competitive implications if I decide to participate or not?  Could I create advantage by being an early adopter?

5) Do I have the resources, or can I acquire the resources, to conduct limited, focused experiments to see if working through the social web can provide a cost-benefit exceeding traditional advertising?

After my students walk through these questions, they usually conclude a) yes, this is something with a lot of potential and b) there are practical and manageable methods to approach this if I stay committed and focused.

Does this make sense to you?  What is your experience with SMB’s and the social web right now?

{grow} community alert: Pete Mosely, a frequent contributor to {grow} has a new eBook out on promotion fundamentals which is a nice companion piece to this blog article.

15 Comments

• 

  By Lisa Foote, January 7, 2010 @ 10:26 am

  I particularly like question 1. That’s the gist of the problem.

  Too often social media is seen as “one MORE thing I don’t have time for.” To your point, without understanding and evaluating social media’s place in the small business’ ecosystem, that’s not a sensible response.

  One more question I often ask that complements question 5 here: What’s my lowest performing channel? How much time / money am I spending on it? Could I potentially replace that spend with a social media spend?

  Great post, Mark — thanks.
• 

  By Richard Bosworth, January 7, 2010 @ 2:33 pm

  Mark, for me the big challenge is, how do we get over the time issue which you and Lisa raise? My experience is we need more case studies and success stories to convince business owners to give the time commitment and make the investment in social media.
• 

  By John Bottom, January 8, 2010 @ 7:10 am

  The clincher for many small businesses is the fact that social media is free. Sure, it takes time and effort, which they don’t have much of, but try telling them that every time they post a blog, for example, it sits on the web FOREVER – with no maintenance – as just one more way of attracting customers and getting them to prefer you to the competition. Keep building this and you will not only soon have a whole row of signposts to your business, but also a whole bunch of opportunities to impress them with your knowledge and earn their trust. And the great thing is, it costs you nothing.
• 

  By Jenn Whinnem, January 8, 2010 @ 10:56 am

  Mark, thanks for sharing those questions – they’re great. My company is small (there are 6 of us!) and these are the exact points I had to address to convince my boss that it was worthwhile for us to use social media.

  In the few months we’ve been using Twitter and Linked In, the most important benefit has been access to expertise that has helped us do our jobs better. We’ve also found candidates (I work for a recruiting firm). All in all, I think it’s going well…but it has been slow, I will say that.
• 

  By Mark, January 8, 2010 @ 12:15 pm

  @Lisa — Superb addition to the post. Where were you when I needed you : )

  @Richard — Yup. Time and cost/benefit. That really is THE question isn’t it?

  @ John — This has certainly been my experience. One of the benefits of blogging i did not anticipate is how i can constantly refer people back to old posts to help them with their business problems. That content and base of helpfulness is there for me to use forever.

  @Jenn — sounds like a guest post in the making! : )
• 

  By Alexandria, January 8, 2010 @ 2:25 pm

  Hi Mark, Great post! I’ve started various whole social marketing efforts with minimal planning, but a lot of it has been about learning on the go, and gaining an understanding of how people are using social marketing.

  Now, that I’ve gained a better understanding, these are questions are a great way for me to reevaluate everything that I’m doing.

  @Lisa – thanks for that additional point. It’s also really helpful.
• 

  By Mark, January 8, 2010 @ 3:47 pm

  @Alexandria So pleased this will help you out. Nothing makes me feel better than hearing the blog created value for somebody in the {grow} community. Well, actually there might be one or two things that make me feel better, but we won’t go there. This is a family blog.

  Thanks for taking the time to comment!
• 

  By Jenn Whinnem, January 8, 2010 @ 5:25 pm

  @Mark – I’m always happy to support this blog!

  @Alexandria – that seems to be how it’s worked for me & my company too.
• 

  By Jon Buscall, January 9, 2010 @ 5:15 am

  I think we need to get businesses to think about their desired outcome and how best to get there.

  For example, a restaurant I know in not so great a location wanted to increase visitors to their lunch session and generate better word of mouth. They didn’t have money to advertise and couldn’t get a review in the local paper.

  So they created a Facebook Fan Page and put an iMac near the door, and encouraged people to leave comments, join the page, etc.

  Over fourth months the page has increased word of mouth, particularly when they tied it in with a twitter account and got kitchen staff to tweet.

  The page was also a great way of getting feedback on their lunch and service. Even the negative stuff gave it a genuine edge because they engaged with the comments honestly and in a way that showed they were dialoguing.

  The end result was that the restaurant is one of the most popular lunch places in south Stockholm, with an excellent word of mouth.

  They started off asking what they wanted to achieve (visitors)
  Looked at how realistic a social media initiative would be (using an old computer)
  Committed a certain amount of budget (the computer)
  Measured their success by watching the number of fans grow and interactions increase and then used this to improve the service by asking their community what specials / foods they should be offering.

  Real life social marketing in action!
• 

  By Mark, January 9, 2010 @ 9:41 am

  @ Jon Great success story. i especially like the part about engaging with negative comments honestly. When customers see a response (new menu items) that would really secure loyalty. Good lesson there!
• 

  By boomergirl, February 28, 2010 @ 9:56 am

  We can’t decide if we use our blog as a calling card for the rest of the PR services we offer or spend more time trying to monetize the blog. Both of us have marketing and advertising backgrounds. He in creative, me in marketing tourism. Rebuilding wordpress site with newer technology. Have spent hours talking with those with their heads deep in SM. Am told successful sites cater to one of 3 “human” things: fear, lust or greed. Would you agree?
• 

  By Mark, February 28, 2010 @ 2:29 pm

  @boomergirl I think you’re in danger or thinking too much! I’m not sure how you can sustain a business blog based on lust, at least not one i would visit very often!

  One idea is to just be yourself, even in your business blog. If you write about the things that excite and delight you, your audience will find you. If you try to fake it to align with some business theory of human motivations, people will probably see through it. Keep it real, have fun, be kind.
• 

  By boomergirl, February 28, 2010 @ 8:03 pm

  LOL. I wasn’t referring to our blog when I asked that last question but above doesn’t really explain that. I think you might agree that it is written with enthusiasm and delight. It was based on the opinion of someone who like you, pitches himself as a social marketing consultant.
• 

  By Mark, March 1, 2010 @ 7:46 am

  Great! Thanks for the clarification and thanks again for taking the time to comment!
• 

  By Kimmo Linkama, May 10, 2010 @ 3:18 pm

  Got here through your May 10 tweet. I think the fundamental question is your #3: Are my customers using the social web?

  In the case of my bread-and-butter, B2Bs, not so often.

  Then again, social media are great for everybody in that they provide search engines a vast number of opportunities to find your name, opinion and expertise. When we know that three-quarters of B2B purchase decisions begin with an online search, this is not something you will want to waste.

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