Small Businesses and Social Media

On February 22, the Boston Globe’s Metro section featured an article about the impact social media is having with small businesses. The focus was how although some small business owners have not always been very tech-savvy in the past, they can no longer ignore the benefits provided by social media sites such as twitter, facebook, and even foursquare, which allows customers to “check in” wherever they are and send their location out to friends who also use the website. In turn they receive points and promotions for checking in.

The article highlights one company called “Mike’s Automotive Service”, located in Somerville, MA that has always prided itself for being on top of technological trends. They talk about using social media, saying,  “Twitter, Facebook, Groupon—the whole thing has gotten a lot more sophisticated. It’s kind of forcing my hand to get involved.” The point here is that in the next couple of years, small business will have to learn how to use social media to their advantage in order to stay ahead of their competitors. As the owner of Mike’s automotive put it, it will “force their hand”.

It’s also important to note that as these small businesses use social media to drive customers to their website, just getting them there will not be enough. Once more and more businesses discover the power of social media, the playing field will level out and their will need to be other ways to differentiate one company for another. This is where video pays a very important role in site visitor conversion into actual business prospects.  That is why at Skillman Video Group we believe that our service Social Video Marketing will go hand in hand with the rise of social media in the small business community.

Read the entire Boston Globe article here: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/02/22/small_businesses_learn_to_tweet_post_and_blog/