Social Media is a must for Small and Medium Businesses

3 Main Reasons that prevent SMBs (Small Medium Businesses)
from Using Social Media

Virtually everyone is online in some form in 2019 (with roughly 84% of online Canadian adults having a Facebook account, among other social media platforms). With Facebook and Instagram, in particular, offering up strong ad platforms with their own analytics and KPIs that make ad tracking easy for reasonably low overhead, many businesses are betting that strong engagement will lead to strong sales.
What is surprising, however, is that Canadian businesses aren’t taking full advantage of social media when customers spend more time with it than television. With that in mind, let’s look at 3 reasons why Canadian small businesses are steering clear of social media, and simple solutions for how to integrate social media into your small business strategy.

1. Lack of Knowledge & Understanding

While 47% of business owners in Canada think that having some sort of online presence is important, only 24% engage with social media! Many point to a general lack of understanding surrounding social media, how it works, and not comfortable posting in general.  Only 65% of business owners over 35 utilize social media in their marketing efforts. This is mostly because they didn’t grow up with social media and don’t have as strong of an understanding of its pervasiveness in both society and consumer culture.

Backend ad systems may seem daunting to those not proficient in online marketing technology. Figuring out why an ad was effective, or not, might seem impossible to some business owners who don’t know where to start.

What may surprise many is the intuitive design of social platforms, and how much potential there is to speak directly to their client base. Social media is also easy to integrate into any existing marketing plan. Instead of thinking of it as a whole new system to learn, think of it as a new (FREE!) way to speak directly to customers and clients.
In fact, some businesses, like Toronto-based Inkbox, find success starting with social media before anything else, raising $13 million towards expanding their empire.

2. Costs of Social Media

With advertising budgets tight for most small businesses, many opt to avoid social media. The misconception among a lot of small business owners is that the platforms are only truly effective if there are costly ad buys involved.  According to LinkedIn, direct mail or broadcast TV might cost you $57 and $28 respectively to reach 1000 people, social media can reach the same amount at a fraction of the cost (as little as $2.50).

Facebook in particular offers very effective targeting solutions so small businesses can target customers according to a variety of demographics that can be as general or as specific as necessary. What’s more, that platform has online guides that would give anyone the basic knowledge needed build campaigns. Businesses can then avoid “spray and pray” style ads, where they simply throw everything out and hope something sticks.

Ad spend on social media is still extremely low. Social media has more capabilities to connect to desired demographics as opposed to traditional media.

There’s also a low barrier to entry. For even just a few dollars, any company anywhere can begin to experiment with reaching target customers and measuring how social media impacts their amplification and reach.

3. Takes Too Much Time

Having a small business usually means having a small team, and social media from the outside, might seem like just too much of a time commitment for an SME to tackle on its own.
One solution is automation, and there are plenty of tools (some free!) that can help you ensure you have a pipeline of content plugged in and ready to go, including Buffer, Hootsuite, or Co-Schedule.

Another is hiring a marketing agency to handle things for you (full disclosure, we can help you here at Howler Hub!). Contracting out social media is a simple and effective way to ensure your team can focus on what they do best, while your small business grows its footprint effectively at minimal cost on the digital plane.

To wrap up, businesses online and offline benefit from a good social media marketing strategy.

 The benefits of developing a good social media strategy (even for small businesses) can include;

• Targeting the right customers at the right time – If you have a promotion taking place, social media is a great way to get the word out on a larger scale.

• Costs for advertising are low – If a correct advertising strategy is put in place costs to reach a local audience can be lower than traditional media.

• Brand loyalty – by communicating with your customers on a daily basis they can get a behind the scenes look at your business.

• We know your audience is already waiting to hear from you, and a social media marketing strategy can help you reach both local (international customers if you planning to expand).