Social media has changed interactions between consumers and companies for the better. Of course, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc can act as a stream for complaints, but there are huge advantages in having a direct link between customer and product, service or offering provider.
Moreover, due to the encompassing nature of social media, it's a great way for small businesses to take on their bigger peers. Of course, the latter may have a larger number of followers, but a well-crafted social post can really transcend any business boundaries that are dictated by size alone.
So, what should small business owners be doing to maximise their presence in the social space?
Remember the bottom line
Ultimately, social media should be considered as another factor that can help the company boost its revenue. While it's great to start conversations and engage with customers, such correspondence should be carried out with the bottom line in mind.
Forbes contributor Steve Olenski explained that social media exchanges should be most predominantly used as touch points to create more interest in a particular product or service.
A well crafted strategy could see the small enterprise reaching for accounting software such as CashManager from Accomplish to ensure that all the figures stay in check, while a poor one may create buzz, but will not be as viable from a business perspective.
Get communal
Research published by Yahoo suggested that 53 per cent of all consumers recommend products via Twitter. Consequently, it's a must for your company to get communal and involved in such conversations.
While it's important to not approach such correspondence in a heavy-handed manner, thanking a customer for a positive review, or even just addressing concerns they may have for a future purchase, can boost a small business' brand and effectively enhance this process of digital word of mouth.