I’m the Communications Director for BatchBlue, a small business that makes web-based software for other small businesses. As we’ve built our company over the past two years (from three employees to a whooping eight!), we’ve been exploring various ways to engage with our potential customers and get the word out about our inaugural product BatchBook, an online contact manager for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
In addition to employing traditional marketing channels such as attending local events, going to trade shows and sending out promotional mailings and press releases, we’ve also fully immersed ourselves in some of the newer communication tools out there, which are broadly captured by the term “social media”. Even though you may not be familiar with the term social media, chances are you’ve heard about it or maybe even are using it to communicate in your personal life. So what is social media and how can you use it to help promote your small business? Social media is loosely defined as websites where users are submitting content such as news, photos, videos and audio clips. In general, this content is uploaded by someone and made public so that other people can learn from it, share it, and/or comment or vote on it. The “social” in social media refers to the participatory nature of these sites. People are encouraged (expected even) to contribute, present their viewpoints in a respectful, constructive way, and engage with these virtual communities in much the same way as if they were happening at a local coffee shop or at a dinner party.
At BatchBlue, we’ve used social media to help folks discover more about who we are as a company. We’ve got a flickr account where we post photos to showcase product features, capture highlights from staff meetings and events, and display where our sports team allegiance lies. We write a blog on a variety of topics related to small business so people can get an in-depth look at how we work and what we’re thinking even before they’ve decided to do business with us. As blogger and interactive marketer Rohit Bhargava points out in his new book Personality Not Included, customers expect much more open and honest communication from companies these days. We feel using social media helps promote the fact that our company is small, friendly, and maybe a little quirky but utterly passionate about what we do.
Because social media is still relatively new, the rules of how and when to use it are still being written. We’ve used our experience to write a Blue Paper called Social Media for Small Business in hopes of helping fellow small business owners learn about social media as it both evolves as a medium and changes the way we do business.
From establishing your brand, connecting with customers, and giving more information about your products and services to building networks and finding like-minded colleagues, new clients and even mentors, social media is fast becoming part of the savvy small business owner’s world. Check out the Blue Paper to learn how you can be a part of it.
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