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I am surprised of how many of my Small Business students underestimate the power of Social Media. Especially now that we have entered the 4IR and customer/client communication via various web and social media platforms is the most preferred way of consumers. This is specifically important for Micro/Small businesses which rely heavily on social media to interact and promote their services.

Getting the message out to your clients does no longer rely just on traditional promotional methods but relies heavily on the time spend on social media. According to various reports on this topic, 64% of businesses spend 6 or more hours per week promoting their products/services via social media. 41% actually spending 11 hours per week engaging with their clients. The results of spending enough time on social media are amazing.

90% reported an increase in brand or business exposure, while 77% reported a website traffic increase, 69% reported brand loyalty, 68% reported gain in marketplace intelligence, 66% report a positive growth in lead generation with only a minimum of 6 hours per week dedication to social media

The question arises of what is the best media to use? It depends a lot on your customers/clients and the industry you are in. At the moment Facebook is still leading as the social media platform for businesses with 93%, followed closely by Twitter 79% and LinkedIn by 71%. Google+ ranked 4th with 56% and YouTube ranked 5th with 55%. Most businesses chose a combination of 71% visual, 70% blogging and 57% video and 10% podcasting to promote their product/service.

In the end, every Micro/Small business has to find out for themselves the best combination which will increase their brand awareness and lead ultimately to the desired business growth.

Conclusion

In the 4IR it is vital to have a strong online presence. If a company doesn’t have a presence, or show no activity on social media or worse, their website is outdated; customers will not engage with that business. In the end, every Micro/Small business has to find out for themselves the best combination which will increase their brand awareness and lead ultimately to the desired business growth.

Not sure where to begin? Don’t worry, nothing is as complicated as it looks like.

Work With Me  or drop me a line hello@ilonasolinska.com.