Alicia Sanarko looks at the hows and whys small businesses should embrace a social media strategy…

Small business, noun
The Australian Taxation Office defines a small business as one that has annual revenue turnover (excluding GST) of less than $2 million. Fair Work Australia defines a small business as one that has less than 15 employees.

Social, adjective
Relating to society or its organisation.

Savvy, adjective
Shrewd and knowledgeable about the realities of life.

Small businesses. They’ve always been a risky move in the business world, but they do have their advantages and of course disadvantages. Starting a small business means the owner has the freedom to be independent, they make all the decisions and take all their risks. However, there is pressure for the business to generate enough cash flow otherwise it may fail.

Being a small business, they wouldn’t have the budget for advertising like larger companies do, so what’s the best way to promote it? Social media. Social media has evolved a lot in the last few years and is a great way for small businesses to get their name out there.

8 out of 10 small businesses use social media to drive growth.

3 in 5 small businesses say they’ve gained new customers by using social media.

70% of business-to-customer marketers have acquired customers through Facebook.

67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from the brands they follow on Twitter.

Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms, are also a big tick when it comes to free exposure. Setting up an account for small businesses can have a very positive effect. Hashtags in posts are used to mark keywords and are a way of categorising; they also help to get more likes on a post which can lead to potential followers. Instagram has a great small business community, they all help to promote and support each other. There are many ‘bargain find’ accounts that also like to share  small businesses/small online stores they like with their followers, word of mouth is an excellent way of promotion.

Many small businesses are also becoming up-to-date with technology, no more paper loyalty cards to collect stamps; these things are being replaced with the customers’ smartphones and a tablet instore where everything is done digitally. There are apps where a customer can, for example, order and pay for their coffee from their favourite café in advance so when they get there they can skip the queue for fast service, and of course still get loyalty benefits.

Making small business ‘social savvy’ is definitely important in this social and technology driven economy.