The Importance of Social Media

Many small businesses have come to recognize the importance of social media as part of their marketing plan.

For years small businesses have used a variety of marketing tools to reach their customers including catalogs, postcards, mini-logs and newspaper ads.  Each of these tools has an expense associated with it and the marketing vehicles that are sent through the mail have the additional challenge of keeping a current, accurate database.  In order for a catalog to be effective it must reach the desired recipient, and keeping that information up to date requires dedicated staff and/or expensive technology.

In recent years many small businesses have included a variety of social media tools to their marketing plans such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, podcasts and videos.  In contrast to traditional media, social media allows small businesses to have instant contact with their customers in the form of customer feedback, company helplines, and training videos.  Because social media is affordable it can benefit small businesses and be a great addition to traditional marketing tools.
Nancy Swenson, Pair of Writers