3 Fears Small Businesses Have About Social Media
I recently spent a lot of time with several different types of small businesses. All of them were very interested in Social Media and especially leveraging facebook to promote their business. I have noticed some common fears that these small businesses have about social media. Here are the top 3:
1. The fear of the unknown. Some of these small businesses owners are not a part of any social media site yet so they are unsure about what it even is but they know people are spending time on them. They have spouses, family members and friends that are members and they know some of their customers are embracing it also, but they are unsure about the medium for advertising their business or how it even works.
2. The fear of negativity. Small businesses are afraid they will be talked about negatively and their social media presence will result in complaints and information about bad experiences customers have had with their business.
3. The fear of stagnation. Small businesses usually have limited staff and they have a fear that their social media presence will become stagnate and non-engaging. Most are scared that they won’t have the time to update their information and fully leverage it as a tool to interact with customers and generate more leads.
All three concerns are well founded. I had to educate them on the fact that like it or not social media is here to stay and more of their customers and prospects will be signing up for membership in sites like facebook, myspace, youtube, etc… They are spending more time online shifting their viewing, listening and reading habits away from more traditional media. So the unknown needs to become known, you must get over the fear of negativity and turn those opportunities into positives, and if you don’t have time to keep up with it hire someone else to do it. That is what our firm does www.goedgemarketing.com.
Do you know of other fears small businesses have about social media?
1. The fear of the unknown. Some of these small businesses owners are not a part of any social media site yet so they are unsure about what it even is but they know people are spending time on them. They have spouses, family members and friends that are members and they know some of their customers are embracing it also, but they are unsure about the medium for advertising their business or how it even works.
2. The fear of negativity. Small businesses are afraid they will be talked about negatively and their social media presence will result in complaints and information about bad experiences customers have had with their business.
3. The fear of stagnation. Small businesses usually have limited staff and they have a fear that their social media presence will become stagnate and non-engaging. Most are scared that they won’t have the time to update their information and fully leverage it as a tool to interact with customers and generate more leads.
All three concerns are well founded. I had to educate them on the fact that like it or not social media is here to stay and more of their customers and prospects will be signing up for membership in sites like facebook, myspace, youtube, etc… They are spending more time online shifting their viewing, listening and reading habits away from more traditional media. So the unknown needs to become known, you must get over the fear of negativity and turn those opportunities into positives, and if you don’t have time to keep up with it hire someone else to do it. That is what our firm does www.goedgemarketing.com.
Do you know of other fears small businesses have about social media?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Heather Penney on -
I think you touched on some very important information and provided valuable insight. In today's economy and also very competitive market place, business owners have to be proactive to maintain a strong customer base and market presence. Social media is relatively new for the most part, I believe that as more businesses realize they need to have an online presence, or should I say active online presence, then they will do more to embrace this practice.
Also, business owners also need to realize that they need professional development as well. Too often, we as humans, have a way of staying right where we are because it is comfortable, but businesses can lose part of their edge or all of their edge if they don't adapt with the times and their customer's wants and needs.
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