Social Media Is Getting Up-Close And Personal With Small Businesses, And They Like It

Small businesses are now jumping on the social media bandwagon in order to keep their businesses booming or in some cases, afloat! In today’s economic state, all businesses are feeling the repercussions, but especially small business owners. Although our economy has been on a dwindling spiral over the past several years, social media has not. Social media has taken off and no one can catch it. And like the old saying goes, “if ya can’t beat em’, then join em’. ” Using the expression is exactly what small business owners are doing.

In an article from Mediabistro.com, Social Media is Making a Big Impact on Small Business, you can see that 73% of small business owners are using social media. Facebook is in the lead with 82%, followed by a close 73% on YouTube, 47% on Twitter, as well as 47% on Linkedin. These are all essential media outlets for small businesses to help promote a buzz about their business and take it to the next level.

However, the previously stated social media outlets are not the only ones benefiting small business owners. What about Yelp and Foursquare? On Officialblog.yelp.com, Reflections on Yelp’s Small Business Advisory Council, Yelp is expressed as a site in which you can track the amount of traffic your business is getting on your Yelp page over a period of 30 days, 12 months, or 24 months. The site also allows you to publicize your communication traffic between you and your customers. Therefore, prior and potential customers can review information about your business.
Now this brings me to Foursquare. Do you own your own business, or dream of doing so? Do you love the community in which you live? If so, then Foursquare is the site for you! On Ducttapemarketing.com, 7 Reasons Why Small Business Should Take a Look at Foursquare, it truly gears towards the importance of a neighborhood type of hyper local branding, as well as community building, which are essential to the marketing aspects of owning a small business. Those are just a few among many reasons, of why small businesses need to jump on the Foursquare bandwagon fast!

So there you have it! These are just a few examples of how social media platforms are getting up close and personal with small businesses and providing them with endless tools for networking and exposure. Keep in mind; if you’re a small business owner, or potential small business owner, social media is only going to get more advanced. It’s simply a free ticket into possessing a successful and profitable business. You have all of these social media platforms at your fingertips that are the floodgates to opportunity. If you don’t jump on this bandwagon, then you are only cheating yourself and your business.

- Courtney Griffin

 Cgriffin@flagler.edu