Should Your Small Business Be Using Social Media?

If you’re a small business, you’ve no doubt been bombarded with requests to participate in various Social Media platforms on both personal and business levels.  And quite frankly, you may think it’s all just a bunch of hoopla; another way of distracting you from dealing with the ‘real things to do’ that need your attention every day at the office.

If that’s you, then here’s some good news and some bad news.

First the bad news. You’re about to be hit by a tsunami of shifting communication styles that is changing the face of how you interact with your customer base.  Not easy to hear, but better to know now than in 6 months or a year from now, when the wave is crashing on top of you and you’re clinging to a tree branch, searching the skies for the rescue helicopter. A bit dramatic, I know, but you get the idea.

Ok, so now the good news. There is hope.  Small businesses just like yours are flocking to Social Media in hoards and are satisfied with the results.

eMarketer reports that according to “The State of Small Business Report” by Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland, social media usage increased to 24% from 12% the year before, doubling its adoption rate.  The majority of those (75%) have a company page on social media websites like Facebook or LinkedIn or post status updates or articles to those sites (69%).
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Organic Search Vs. Paid Search (PPC)

“Which is better, organic search marketing or pay-per-click marketing?”

It’s a common question that I hear from clients quite a bit. And just as you’d expect marketers are taking sides with equally compelling arguments for and against both options.

Here are some things to think about when considering your search marketing.  It will help you not only understand the pro’s and con’s of each, but determine which is right for your business.

First some facts:

• Organic: People prefer and trust organic search results more
  • Organic search is 8.5x more likely to be clicked on than paid search results (study by Jupiter research, a Forrester company)
• Paid: Paid search converts more
  • Paid search results are 1.5x more likely to convert from search engines (study by Jupiter research, a Forrester company)

Conclusion: The opportunity from organic search is 5.66x that of paid search.

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