For many small businesses, social media marketing is a bit like exercise or flossing: they know it’s probably good for them, but many are still not doing it.
According to a recent Bank of Montreal study, only two in five small businesses in Canada are using social media tools, even though 55% believe it is an important marketing tool.
“That gap of people who know they should do it and those who actually do it is not limited to just small business,” said Luke Chatelain, director of business development and strategy for Vancouver-headquartered Invoke Media, which helps businesses develop social media strategies.
“I think a lot of people aren’t doing it just because of their understanding of how to go about doing it,” he said.
Fortunately, for businesses that have decided to look into social media marketing, more and more marketing companies – like Invoke – are offering customized social media marketing services.
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is also now offering a social media studies program for businesses.
“The program is very business oriented,” said Fiona McAuley, senior program leader for UBC’s new award of achievement in social media program. Launched in 2010, it is designed specifically for small business.
Classes are typically offered in the evenings. Participants are mostly small-business owners themselves or a designated employee.
The program, which is under UBC’s continuing studies department, has six core courses: social media fundamentals, social media metrics, social media strategyand marketing, governance, monetizing social media and developing a social media plan.
Businesses that have flirted with social media may have given up on it before hitting pay dirt. The problem may be that they are either using the wrong social media tools or using them all ineffectively.
“They’re not all the same and you don’t need them all,” McAuley said.
When a large company decides to jump on the social media bandwagon, it can afford to hire a social media marketer or designate someone from within the organization and provide training.
Small-business owners, on the other hand, may not have the time to develop and maintain a social media strategy.
“Social media is not really costly, but it’s labour intensive,” said Kevin Parenteau, co-owner of Wolfgang Commercial Painters, a small business that has replaced much of its traditionaladvertising with social media marketing.
Anyone can set up a Twitter account or Facebook page. Developing the following that is needed to make it work is usually the biggest challenge.
“It’s a huge obstacle,” Chatelain said.
When Invoke works with a client, it first establishes what kind of social media strategy will work best for that company and then help the company set up whatever sites it may need.
To build an instant following, Invoke will often recommend a contest aimed at getting people to sign up as friends or followers.
A social media campaign is a bit like a garden in that it needs constant tending, which means someone within the organization needs to be responsible for tweeting, making blog entries and responding to customer questions or complaints.
In the spring of 2010, Parenteau and his partner decided to dive headfirst into the social media pool. Parenteau sent his office manager to attend a two-day social media bootcamp in Seattle.
Wolfgang Commercial Painters – which has more than 100 contract painters but a small office staff of just six people – now boasts 5,000 Twitter followers and 220 Facebook friends. It also has its own blog.
Parenteau believes in social media marketing so strongly that his company is now using it as its main advertising vehicle.
“We dropped most of our traditional print advertising last year,” Parenteau said. “We are gaining as many opportunities as before and there’s a lot less waste.”
Whether social media is drawing more customers than traditional advertising is hard to gauge, Parenteau said, saying social media is still in its infancy. But he said there’s no question that it has boosted the company’s rankings on the Internet.
“We do know that the traffic’s improved remarkably on the website,” Parenteau said. “It’s probably at least 50% over the year.”