Many of our clients ask us: “Why do I need a Facebook Fan Page or a Twitter Account? I’m just a small business. How can these social medias help my business?”

Social Networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and MySpace all play a roll in web marketing. While most of these social network sites are perceived to be just that, a place where users share personal photos and messages with each other, they can also be a very powerful tool in connecting with a small businesses’ existing clientele.

Ask yourself this: “Why is it important that you keep a list of email addresses for your existing customers?” Many would answer that this is done to maintain contact with existing customers as to business happenings, special offers and promotions. Ask yourself another question: “How many of your clients are READING these emails?” Most statistics state that only 20% of non-personal emails are read when they are coming to users from businesses. If only 20% of your clients are hearing about an ongoing special that you are offering how effective is your marketing campaign? Not very.

Here is where social media sites come in. In the same breath that you ask your clients to provide to you their email address, why not provide for them a small business card that gives them incentive to sign up to your businesses’ Facebook Fan Page or Twitter account. This incentive could include a free giveaway or simply a small discount off of their next visit or purchase. Now you have three different methods to attract your clients to your next promotion or special offer. People also pay much more attention to their Facebook pages and their Twitter accounts then they do ‘junk mail’. They perceive their Facebook and Twitter accounts to be personal connections and don’t perceive messages in those mediums as ‘junk mail’. Your clients are also very likely to have these social networks integrated into their mobile phones. Now you are reaching your target audience whenever and wherever they are and you are doing it with a medium that is much more likely to be noticed than just a simple email campaign.

Feel free to contact us at Full Circle Consulting so we can assist you in socializing your small business.