Small Business Social Media Advantage

Corporate Social Media v. Small Business Social Media

Image via Wikipedia

They’re not at odds. Nor are they even.

Differentiating between Corporate versus Small Business social usability may seem obvious to the trailblazers of Web 2.0 and the social media sphere, but it was a bit of an Oh 2.0 epiphany for me.

Lions, Tigers and Scales. Oh my!

“Does it scale? Does it scale?” Walk into a conference-room conversation about social media and the question of scale is bound to pop up. But what exactly does “does it scale” mean? Simply put, it’s a question of how a company (or an individual, for that matter) personalizes interaction with large-scale (tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions) “fans,” “followers,” “friends,” “visitors,” “commenters,” etc. It’s a fundamental challenge in social media. I mean, how can you possibly keep up with that many conversations?

Well, that’s what the big companies are asking when they talk about “scale” in social media.

And it’s a great question, which I’d like to follow with another: Does social media scale a bit easier for small businesses because they’re a little lighter on their feet and better positioned to move/react more quickly? That is, if you’re a large corporation, with a national or international presence, the question of scale and how you can build 1:1 relationships with ever-growing audiences remains a weighty one, if you’ll allow me the pun. But if you’re a small business, do you have an edge maneuvering around in the socialspheres?

Small Business + Social Media = Perfect Scale?

I’d like to say I’ve done the math, but I don’t do math. So what I’m suggesting here, is that the smaller size of a small business, in comparison to larger corporations, enables more scaled down and targeted local (or even regional) efforts. I don’t want to suggest that it’s an easy or effortless process, but I truly believe that it’s refreshingly manageable when you can make a move without it requiring the approval of multiple departments or a Board of Directors.

Leverage your smaller size to build a more manageable community.

C’mon! This is exciting, no? Social media is something you can get your head (and your small business) around with a few less worries than the Fortune 500 folks. That’s something to feel good about in these trying economic times! You’re a small business. You’re nimble. You’re quick. You don’t own any red tape. It’s you and your customers. Oh, and your passion, (fantastically pre-built into most small businesses). Okay, now you’re all socially psyched. So what’s next?

Here’s my shortlist of small business social action steps.

You need to start with a strategic plan. Need help? Someone you know in your local community is surely über-motivated about social media. Find that person. Talk to her about what you want to do. (I might know a gal…)
Assess your current social presence and those of your competitors. Again, not sure how? Ask me. I know people. Heck, start with a good ol’ fashioned google search.
Identify your goals and objectives in entering the socialsphere. Not sure what they are? Hire someone to help you. Seriously. Do it right from the beginning. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to muck things up along the way…but at least get off to a good, solid, running start.
Do your homework! Find the right dot-com platform(s) by taking a look at them. Spend some TIME in the space. This isn’t for fun…this is for your business. (It’s just another plus that you’re likely to find it fun.) Check out twitter, linkedin and facebook for starters. Pick one or two to get your feet wet. Put your business hat on. Listen to the conversations taking place. Figure out how each space can work for your business before you start posting.
Set yourself up properly when you open up an account. Build solid profiles – if you write yourself a bio, give it some serious thought. Impressions are made quickly online. Be professional. Protect your brand. But, by all means, be you.
Identify your target audience within each platform. Use search tools to find the right people. (My Resources page offers a solid list of Twitter tools…just scroll to the bottom and take your pick.)
Engage and respond. Don’t be a lurker for long.
Learn, (MEASURE!), adjust and grow your network. Move those online conversations offline!
Do not be afraid to try.
Do not be afraid to try again.

Image by edkohler

When your corporate ladder is a stepstool, it’s easier to make the move into social media.

I know I’m speaking in general terms here about “small business.” So let’s be clear: There’s nothing in social media that is “off the shelf.” No matter what size your business is, you still need to customize anything and everything you do to fit your brand, your products and services, as well as your employees, whose participation you may well want to enlist. Chances are they’re already engaged in the social Interwebs and might be able to bring some valuable intelligence to the conference room table.

Still not sure social media is for you? Or unclear about what it can do? Well, I’m on the case…

With the gracious help of @cameronbarry, I’m preparing a “Social Gets Local” directory of small business social media success stories. Any small business in the Baltimore, Annapolis and Washington, D.C. areas that wants to participate can share its social media success story in a quick interview that we’ll then turn into a blog post here on GrayMatter Minute. Meanwhile, I’ll compile all of these local case studies into a directory that should prove to be a really great tool for all of us to reference as we build our online communities.

If you’d like to participate, please click here to learn more or contact me on LinkedIn or Twitter. I’d love to talk with you and hear your story. Because I think any small business that’s made the leap into new media, deserves BIG kudos on every scale.

Tags: http://www.graymatterminute.com/social-gets-local/

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 11:36 pm and is filed under Blog, Networking, Small Business, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

13 Responses to “Corporate Social Media v. Small Business Social Media”

Renee Lemley Says:
March 25th, 2009 at 12:08 am
When, oh when, will I learn to write a short blog post? When?
Social Media Considerations | Optimistic Rebel Says:
March 25th, 2009 at 10:22 am
[...] Small Business Social Media Advantage | GrayMatter Minute. [...]
Craig Says:
March 26th, 2009 at 8:32 am
This is fantastic. I’ve been checking into Radian6 for analytics, but they’re not even sure they’re platform is “scalable” for small business. I’m in the Philly burbs so I’m ingterested in those stories from slightly south in the Baltimore/DC corridor. Should be good fodder for some of my clients/potential clients. Thanks!
Amber Naslund Says:
March 26th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Hi Renee,

Scaling is such a great topic, and I think it is more relevant to businesses at times based on size. That said, scaling social media is often a matter of human resources; we’ve learned how to grow our customer support over the years by streamlining parts of the process and humanizing others, and I think social media will evolve much the same way over time. It’s going to be different for every business, but I think they key is in making sure that social media touches a bit of everything you do. It’s not relegated to communications, but part of your overall operational culture.

Craig, I’d be more than happy to chat with you more about scalability and Radian6 too; my email is below and we can talk through your needs and concerns.

Best,
Amber Naslund
Director of Community | Radian6
amber.naslund@radian6.com
@AmberCadabra
minutemaker Says:
March 26th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Wow. Amber. Big day for GrayMatter Minute. (Seriously.)

Amber is an amazing social media leader. I’m publicly gushing here, I realize. But I’ve learned A LOT from Amber on her blog http://altitudebranding.com which I HIGHLY recommend that you subscribe to via email or RSS feed. You’ll see many links to her posts and downloads on my Resources page.

I agree with Amber’s comment, in particular with the idea that social media requires a culture shift in an organization’s overall operational culture. This is no easy feat when the c-levels think “social media” presents more problems than solutions: such as, online risk/reputation management (which I cite as a reason to be IN the space to respond to comments/concerns), ROI (I suggest considering social media as an awareness tool and a customer service opportunity), employee engagement concerns (they don’t want employees twittering on company time), Internet access (so many corporate networks are locked and blocked so employees can’t access what the company hasn’t approved) and the blurring of the line between the professional and personal (does an employee still represent the company when s/he is on facebook at home?).

These are serious and important questions that impede the culture shift. This is why I love talking to a true “small business”…you know, just a few employees. If you’re the small biz owner, you can engage and learn without solving all of the aforementioned problems that the industry is grappling with…you can invest your time because it’s for your business. The ROI is growing your network, building brand awareness, learning from your peers and creating loyalty among your customers and vendors. You can maneuver more easily and make sure the social media rubber is hitting the virtual road when and how you determine (per your personal strategy). You can make adjustments quickly. And, most likely, your mistakes can be remedied without the eyes of the entire twitterverse or blogosphere spending days recounting it all.

I love small business because I feel as though its owners are better positioned (and often more willing) to take risks…only to find that this social media space isn’t such a frightful place to be afterall.
I’ll continue to confront and try to manage the issues the large companies are facing in social business, while closely following Amber and the thought leaders driving social media innovations.

In the meantime, if you’re a big company…take a look at what just happened here. Radian6 was mentioned on a blog and, because she monitors effectively, Amber’s attention was drawn to Craig’s comment. She had an opportunity to respond to Craig directly (and publicly) to the benefit of her brand image (personally and professionally). Where it goes from there, who knows…but the point is…Radian6 was a part of this conversation.

So I can only ask: Are you part of the online conversations taking place about your brand?

-Renee
Mike Spataro Says:
March 27th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I would say the definition of social media scalability is definitely related to the specific business needs of any company or organization. For some clients it means expanding the scope of their online relationships across multiple sites and platforms, while with others we work with, it means how to integrate insights from the Web across their entire enterprise so every part of the company can benefit. It’s often not at all related to the need or the desire to participate or engage with online authors. You’re absolutely right Renee that scalability this is a very hot topic inside the very hot trend of how social media impacts business results.

Mike Spataro
Visible Technologies
social networking san diego Says:
March 27th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
We are just on the tip of the iceberg on whats to comes from companies forming creative business strategies using social networking and social media. I think that my firm Social Networking San Diego will make ALL those clients we sign up read this post! thank you very much for sharing your insight (very helpful)
here to the social networking for business movement
twitterholic @justinrfrench
Renee Lemley Says:
March 30th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Thanks for your feedback, Justin. Received your voicemail and will be in touch to discuss further. (Hat tip to Justin for moving his online network offline.) I came across these posts this morning and it seemed an important footnote/update/add-on to this topic:
http://www.toprankblog.com/2009/03/ses-nysocial-media/
http://themarketingspot.blogspot.com/2009/03/social-media-what-to-do-for-your.html

-R
Social media Now 3.30.09 | Social Media Club Says:
March 30th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
[...] Renee Lemley is collecting local small business social media cases in the Baltimore area and shares some quick tips for small businesses to engage. [...]
Eric Brown Says:
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:14 am
This is an excellent article.

We use Social Media Marketing extensively to marketing and brand our boutique apartment management business, Urbane Apartments in Royal Oak, MI. I have this exact conversation with my apartment friends and colleges across the nation that run much larger, regional and national property management companies. They are quick to point out that the only reason it works for Urbane is because we are small. I tend to disagree, at least regionally.

The real takeaway from your article is Small Business, Jump In, you can level the playing field, and compete. I completely agree.

The other issue, for larger business, is it isn’t so much a scalability issues as it is a corporate bureaucracy issue. There are is no time for approvals, is it OK to say it this way or that way.

Great Stuff, Thanks for the article,
Renee Lemley Says:
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:00 am
Eric,

Thanks for taking the time to comment and for your email. I will be in touch (the old fashioned way, by phone).

On your last point, regarding large corporate bureaucracy, I couldn’t agree more and I could create an entire blog on that subject alone! I run into the SAME questions and stumbling blocks. I have found that Amber Nasland (of Radian 6), who blogs at http://altitudebranding.com/ , has a lot of posts, case studies and resources that work to educate (and cut) through the corporate red tape to open the door to greater social media participation and awareness.

For me, it all comes down to any company’s leadership: are they willing to make the cultural shift that will require CHANGES in policy and procedure. All of the corporate concerns about risk, employee productivity if engaged in social media while on the clock, ROI , negative comment management and loss of control (which is already lost online anyway are REAL issues. I’m not diminishing them at all, but the cultural shift comes in addressing them and moving forward.

I had a boss once, who now runs a successful brand strategy firm in Philadelphia, Brand Drive who taught me the two most important things that I have brought to running my own business:
1.) Don’t talk to clients about what you can’t do, always tell them what you can do…even if it’s different than what they asked of you.
2.) Whatever it is and no matter how impossible it seems, there’s ALWAYS a way to “make it happen.”

If large corporate leaders considered both items 1 and 2, they’d be talking less about why social media can’t work for them and more about how they can make it work for them.

In the meantime, this is the window for small business to get out there and get a head start on it all.

Okay. That’s more than a minute. My time here is up.
I thank you again, Eric. And I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Best regards,
-Renee
Business Life Coach Says:
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Its great to read a post about social media and the correct ways to go about it. Too many clients are using it and not using it correctly!
BizSugar.com Says:
February 11th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Small Business Social Media Advantage…

You’re nimble. You’re quick. You don’t own any red tape. It’s you and your customers. Oh, and your passion, (pre-built into most small businesses). So what’s next?…