We reached out to 20 small business owners and asked them the following questions:
1. How important is a social media presence for small businesses?
2. How can a small business like yours compete with larger companies?
3. What's your Number One tip for small business owners?
If you haven't read Part 1, check it out here!
1. How important is a social media presence for small businesses?
Social media is massively important for us. It provides a way for us to build relationships with our customers and communicate new products and activities that they're interested in. Having an active social media presence also helps to build trust in our brand as new customers get to see how we engage with our customers.
2. How can a small business like yours compete with larger companies?
As a small business, we can be much nimbler as we are not burdened heavily by legacy and bureaucracy. We are able to experiment often with new ideas and processes which makes us competitive and responsive to customer needs.
3. What's your Number One tip for small business owners?
Don't be afraid to try new things! Even if they don't work out, you will still learn a lot from them!
1. How important is a social media presence for small businesses?
Social media is very critical for our business as it helps us to reach out and build personal relationships with our customers. It also helps to build brand awareness.
2. How can a small business like yours compete with larger companies?
We build a personal relationship with our customers and pay closer attention to their needs. The most important aspect is how to differentiate and add value to the same market.
3. What's your Number One tip for small business owners?
Be hands on and immerse in your business, even with the actual direct selling. Know your customers. Don't be afraid to try and experiment. Most businesses start small and it takes time and hard work to nurture.
1. How important is a social media presence for small businesses?
Social media has been such a game-changer for small businesses over these last few years. You certainly need to have a social presence to stay in touch with your clients but also to compete on a level playing field with others that are vying for a piece of the same market. Getting enmeshed in social media can be somewhat daunting as there are so many avenues you can take and everyone seems to have advice on the subject. The only thing I would say is to keep it simple from the outset and have a very clear idea of what you want to achieve with delving into social media.
2. How can a small business like yours compete with larger companies?
Personal touch is something that is hard to fake over a long time. Small businesses have this as their point of difference, something that many customers value highly. Big businesses can leverage off their size to replicate some of this but this is usually exposed in time as simply well-designed operations assisted by high-end technologies. That’s not to say that people aren’t attracted to that, but many loyal customers will seek a place that treats them well and understands them well.
3. What's your Number One tip for small business owners?
Be fair to all the people you come in contact with in your day-to-day business life while you work as hard as you can!
1. How important is a social media presence for small businesses?
Regardless of whether your company is product or service based, social media is an essential marketing tool to help you grow your brand and communicate more effectively with your customers.
Social media increases your business’ profile with both existing and potential customers. Today’s consumer has the expectation that a company will have a strong social media presence which they use to source advice, opinions, reviews and communicate. It helps humanise a business by showing your personality. Interaction with customers on platforms such as Facebook also tends to increase their brand loyalty and make them "stick" to your brand. It is a great opportunity to convert a loyal user into a staunch advocate for your business.
2. How can a small business like yours compete with larger companies?
With the development of targeted marketing, a small business is able to more effectively spend their marketing dollar. This means that the small business is on equal footing with larger multinationals when it comes to the tools they have available. The main cost is time as it is essential to maintain a regular presence on social media - it is important not to have long breaks between posts.
3. What's your Number One tip for small business owners?
A small business has the advantage of being nimble and agile, and the ability to change strategy and direction very quickly. This depends on your staff. The most important tip for a small business owner is to nurture and train their staff well, as staff are the bedrock of any business.
1. How important is a social media presence for small businesses?
It is critical for brand awareness and engagement with your current customer base. It also enables you to find new customers through features like Facebook targeted advertising (so you can reach the exact demographic your business caters to).
2. How can a small business like yours compete with larger companies?
You don’t need to be one of the big guys to provide a top notch customer experience, offer flexible delivery services, and implement initiatives to build customer loyalty and encourage customer retention. If you can get this right and have a unique offering or point of difference, you can give yourself a strong competitive foundation.
3. What's your Number One tip for small business owners?
Do your homework and really get to know your competition. Like the story of Richard Branson flying almost every airline before he started Virgin — find what they do well and do that better; and find what they don’t do well and either don’t do that, or do it differently.
1. How important is a social media presence for small businesses?
Social media presence is of BIG importance to a small business. It helps to reach out to people via a medium that makes you accessible and creates contact and breakthroughs that you may not normally get.
2. How can a small business like yours compete with larger companies?
We can compete by being unique with images and products. Also, having a more personable message and feel to our content.
3. What's your Number One tip for small business owners?
Stay true to yourself and smile. Pay your bills. Treat people like how you would like to be treated...
1. How important is a social media presence for small businesses?
Too important! Everyone is on social media, both consumers and other businesses.
2. How can a small business like yours compete with larger companies?
We compete by having competitive prices, quicker turnaround times, more personalized customer service.
3. What's your Number One tip for small business owners?
Quality and customer service.
1. How important is a social media presence for small businesses?
Social Media is KING for my small business. It’s how I reach my niche customers easily and maintain communication with them to continuously meet their needs.
2. How can a small business like yours compete with larger companies?
To compete with the big boys, it seems one of the biggest hurdles is having good systems that allow you to work efficiently. Having an online system for sending parcels, for instance, is valuable for small businesses, as it helps to remove potential human error and cuts down on dispatch preparation.
3. What's your Number One tip for small business owners?
Do not cut corners asking for help from friends! They will let you down most of the time. Be prepared to seek out professionals and pay them what they're worth to get the job done properly and on time.
1. How important is a social media presence for small businesses?
Redbusbar sells an Australian-developed safety product to medium and large business. The product is a high technology, niche product and we are very much a micro-business. Social media marketing in the form of blog and forum mentions is very important to us. We monitor industry forums and blogs daily for opportunities to contribute content and discuss problems and solutions within our area of expertise.
2. How can a small business like yours compete with larger companies?
Business size is not the issue that it used to be. While it once offered global marketing reach and customer support, the web now allows this functionality easily and at low cost. As long as what you have to offer is compelling, opportunities are abound. As an alternative to competing head on with big business, there are gaps in the market between what the big boys don’t offer and what customers really need. These are the niches that an agile and connected small business can target.
3. What's your Number One tip for small business owners?
Become a knowledge leader at something; it doesn’t matter how niche, be generous and measured with your opinions. Think about products and services that you can leverage off your established profile. Choose good suppliers, work hard, be patient and have fun.
1. How important is a social media presence for small businesses?
Social media is highly important for our business as we are a news media business in the security space. We want to share our content with followers on numerous social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook.
2. How can a small business like yours compete with larger companies?
Larger companies in our space have the advantage of large budgets for social advertising, we are beating them by having more targeted advertising and engaging with all users where possible.
I find larger companies sometimes do not put a personal touch on the communications they use on social media.
3. What's your Number One tip for small business owners?
You need to be active and provide value. I find that being persistent with social media and sharing great content on an ongoing basis is the best way to stay ahead.