Monday, December 3, 2012

Small Businesses are Finding Social Media to be an Integral Tool for a Successful Marketing Strategy




With over 100,000 tweets being sent each minute to Twitter, and over 3.2 billion likes and comments being posted daily to Facebook, it isn't hard to grasp just how large a part of today's society social media is.  Many small businesses are jumping on the social media bandwagon and are finding their efforts very rewarding.  A Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Michael Stelzner surveyed 3342 marketers, and showed that 90% of those surveyed agree that social media is important to their business.  In addition, 88% found that social media helps them gain increased exposure.  By investing time, energy, and very little (if any) money, small businesses have the oppurtunity to gain exposure and growth through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.


Small businesses are building strong relationships with customers while gaining exposure to new potential customers through word-of-mouth promotion

Social networking covers a broad range of websites, the most popular of them being Facebook.  Facebook has roughly 845 million monthly active users in 2012, yielding a network of 100 billion connections.  By building a presence on Facebook, small businesses have access to a huge market of potential consumers, so it is imperative that these businesses maintain their connections and build relationships to ensure growth.  Ning has found it only takes 20 people to create meaningful many-to-many interactions and bring an online community to a significant level of activity. That’s something almost any business can achieve  One Facebook friend may "share" or "like" a small business' Facebook page, and through this friend, another Facebook user can then see the business' page.  In this way, a business' page with 20 "likes" can explode into a community of thousands of "likes", allowing for a large potential of exposure.  

Just creating an account on a social media website, however, won't warrant exposure for small businesses.  They must be connected and engaged with their "followers" or "friends".  Building relationships is crucial to the success and growth of a small firm on social networking sites.  This means companies should spend time fostering close relationships with existing customers, while identifying potential customers.  When a company maintains close relationships with their existing customers, these customers may then talk positively about their experience on their own social networking page, thus gaining new customers for that business.  




AJ Bombers burger joint in Milwaukee gains exposure and revenue from Twitter

 Joe Sorge, the owner of AJ Bombers, started on Twitter by searching to see what people were saying about his restaurant.  After reading the comments, he decided to create his own Twitter account for AJ Bombers, so he could respond and connect with his customers.  Sorge used this as a platform to build positive relationships with customers, and as a result, saw the number of his followers rise.  Sorge believes that Twitter is a large part of the success of his restaurant that he even has customers write their twitter user name on the walls of his restaurant.  



Social media can work wonders for businesses on a budget

Zoomerang Study on Small Business Owners
Typically small businesses are faced with the challenge of allocating their limited funds to many different sections of their business operation.  The marketing aspect of a small business is not necessarily the primary focus in terms of capital investment, and may be cut or severely limited when the business operates on a small budget.  Social networking sites, such as Facebook and twitter, allow these companies the ability to maintain a marketing effort without investing a large sum of money.  A study by Zoomerang, which interviewed 1,180 small business decision-makers and 500 consumers, found that nearly 60% of all small business decision-makers spend less than $100 on social media, and that 74% of business don't employ anyone to manage their social media marketing.  By investing time into establishing a presence in the social networking world, small businesses generally see a payoff of their time, in terms of more exposure, increased traffic, and improved sales.  In the study conducted by Stelzner, 48% of self-employed and small business owners saw improved sales as a direct result of their social media efforts.



How has the advancing platform of social media had an impact on small businesses? 


Professor Godes, marketing expert from the University of Maryland, says that social media has had an impact on small businesses by allowing them to market their good/service in an efficient way.  As Godes states in the video below, it is hard for small businesses to use other cost ineffective outlets to advertise.  Small businesses on a small budget cannot afford to buy airtime or start a radio campaign, so those businesses that allocate time to maintain a social networking site can raise awareness and gain exposure.

Social media provides small businesses a more equal playing ground to advertise and compete against larger companies and corporations

Small businesses now, because of social media, have an easier way to advertise their product and gain name recognition.  Yes, small businesses have huge possibilities for growth, exposure, and revenue, and yes, smaller companies on a low budget are turning to social media, but these possibilites turn into reality only when the businesses take time to cultivate online relationships and maintain their sites!



Is the increasing prevalence of social media allowing small businesses to thrive, or is it hindering their success?


As Godes explains, it is the small businesses, those that take the initiative to develop and maintain their websites, that find social media to be a key contributor in the success of their marketing and networking efforts.  According to Godes, the "more sophisticated, more thoughtful, the most strategic thinking businesses thrive" while the less sophisticated businesses are finding it harder to compete and survive.


Key Takeaway
Small businesses now have the power of social media to reach millions of consumers across the world without having to spend a hefty portion of their funds, and to compete with larger corporations.  Social media allows small businesses these opportunities for exposure and success, but it is ultimately up to the small businesses themselves to make the effort in sustaining their websites and creating an online community of fans and followers.



Sources

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-honigman/100-fascinating-social-me_b_2185281.html
http://www.hubspot.com/Portals/53/docs/small-business-social-media-ebook-hubspot.pdf
http://ansonalex.com/infographics/facebook-user-statistics-2012-infographic/
http://socialmediatoday.com/emoderation/896471/tips-social-media-small-business-1-why-you-need-it



An on-the-street opinion 



Sunday, November 25, 2012

Opinion on Social Media's Impact on Small Business

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1078830

Opinion on Social Media's Impact on Small Business





Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Social Media and Its Influence on Small Business

Over the past twenty years, with the creation of the World Wide Web, there has been a global shift into a digital era. The popularity of the Internet, paired with rapidly advancing digital technology has transformed the way in which society functions at every level and introduced the platform of social media.  Big business is adapting to the hugely popular world of social media, but how is small business being affected and influenced by this change?

The Transformation of Business Operations
A major component, if not the staple of society, is business.  The advancement of digital technology prompted businesses to start changing the way in which they operate.  The business world, after the Internet went public in the early 1990s, began to incorporate the World Wide Web into their operations, and soon after started to digitize their entire infrastructure.  The large corporations were able to adapt to this new expensive way of doing business, but the smaller companies were not able to digitize as quickly due to the high expenses.

Popularity of the Internet Today & Impact on Business
After the Internet was opened to the public in the early 90s, more and more people began using it, and it  rapidly gained recognition.  Today, 2.1 billion people are using the Internet, which includes individuals, firms, corporations, and small businesses.  In 2012, it is much more affordable and common for people to access and establish themselves on the Internet.  Businesses of all different sizes may now have an Internet presence, either through paid sites, or free-to-set-up social networking sites.  Where before, large businesses took up the majority of airtime on television, and ads in newspapers, there are now huge outlets for small businesses to get their name recognized through the web.

Social Media: Helping Small Business
Social media and networking has become an essential way to stay connected in today's digital society.  Where before, small businesses were not granted an equal amount of advertising through traditional outlets (television, radio, etc.), small businesses can now branch out and establish themselves onto a multitude of free or low cost social networking sites.  Those small businesses that are willing to adapt to the current trend of social networking can find it rewarding.  By joining into the social media world, these smaller companies are able to stand out in an increasingly noisy marketplace.  This increased exposure can yield improved sales and while simultaneously reducing marketing costs.

Source

Sunday, November 11, 2012

A Blended Class: Wanted or Unwanted?





Why One Would or Wouldn't Want an iPad





Friday, October 26, 2012

Different Countries- Different News Organizations, Same Story-Different Details?



Looking at different news organizations across the world, there seems to be a dissimilarity in the way that the news is constructed and presented to the public.  A U.S news organization, for instance, may cover a story about events in the middle east much different than how a middle eastern news organization would.  A large reason for this, is because the audiences of the news organizations are different.  When one reads CNN for example, they have to not only be informed as to the basis of the current event, but also familiarize themselves with the area, the people involved, and other information specific to the middle east that the people living there would already know.  
We can examine the differences in U.S news and foreign news by reading an article about the same event on each organization's website and comparing how the story is developed and displayed to the public.  In both the U.S news organization CNN and the middle eastern Aljazeera,the same event of Syrian protests and violence during a supposed four-day truce (which coincides with the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha) between Syrian government forces and rebels is presented.

Differences between CNN article and Aljazeera Article
One immediate difference that is noticeable between the coverage by CNN and the Aljazeera is that CNN begins the story with a very brief summary of what is to be read in the article in a way that plays on the emotions of the readers.  "Snipers in Damascus.  Soldiers shooting protesters.  Clashes outside a military camp." (CNN)  This short description with blunt sentences gives the reader the intensity of the event.  In the Aljazeera article, the writer goes right into the story, without a dramatic introduction or opinion.  The first sentence dives right into the unbiased details of the event: "Fierce clashes between Syrian government forces and rebels have broken out…" (Aljazeera) Another difference that can be observed is that the CNN supplements the article with youtube videos to which CNN states that they cannot authenticate the footage.  Because the videos cannot be specifically authenticated, it gives the reader a sense of the possibility that the article isn't 100% accurate. [Video to the right is the video linked by the CNN article] The article by Aljazeera does not give any links to videos, nor any links in which they state that they cannot authenticate the information.  Since the readers of CNN are not, in general, well versed in middle eastern traditions, the article educates the reader about the holiday Eid al-Adha.  This information is not important to recite in the Aljazeera version because it is well-known.  The CNN version focuses part of the story on the amount of people who were killed during the protests (at least 30) and in some of the ways that these people were killed.  Contrasting this, the Aljazeera version just includes a quote that says there is "fewer victims than usual".  It seems that the CNN article is trying the make the protests out to look more extreme and violent than the events really are.  
(Picture of Syrian protests used in the Aljazeera article) 

To recap, in general the Aljazeera article is shorter and based almost entirely on facts and quotes.  The CNN article is longer, includes unauthenticated videos and a more U.S interpretation of the events.  Also, it educates the readers about the background for the events. (Picture of Syrian protests used in the Aljazeera article) 
Which is More Trustworthy?
Personally, I trust the CNN version more because CNN seems to be a more liberal news organization that is focused mostly on getting an unbiased account of world events.  The CNN article presents the information in a way as to educate the reader about the background of the events and the fighting while also presenting the specific event.  Although the Aljazeera article mostly just presents facts and quotes of the event, I still trust CNN more because I am familiar with CNN and I feel like I am getting accurate information from the country in which I live.  This is not to discredit Aljazeera however, because the information produced by Aljazeera was informative and factual.  
Missing Information?
The CNN version speficially states that "CNN can't confirm reports of the violence as the Syrian government has severely restricted the access of international journalists" (CNN).  Because of this, the readers of the CNN version are not getting completely factual and statistical information.  Because the CNN article is missing the availability of their own journalists to be reporting on the Syrian protests first-hand, there is a disconnect between the event and the article.  The Aljazeera article has speficic quotes from the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman.  Rahman describes when the violence started (0730 GMT), where it started, and details involving the violence.  The Syrian Observatory gave more information throughout the article on the events of the protests, while CNN did not have equal access to information. 


Friday, September 28, 2012

Can Facebook Make or Break Your Job Application?




         The famous social network, Facebook, was originally designed in 2004 for Harvard students to connect with each other in a digital setting.  Facebook quickly gained attention and began expanding to universities and high schools worldwide.  With the colossal expansion of this social networking site, and the rapidly improving state of technology over the past eight years, approximately 845 million people are using facebook around the globe.  The 845 million users make up over 100 billion connections.    
So, how many Facebook friends do I have?  After deleting about 100 people from my friends list, I currently have 1,188.  “1,188?” one may ask, “You have 1,188 friends?”  The answer is no, and to be honest I don’t think I know the majority of them.  I started my Facebook in the eighth grade, which, at the time, was so young it was almost taboo.  Over the past five years I’ve managed to gather over 1,000 friends, and I currently keep in contact with almost none of them. I may “like” a photo every once in a while or a friend will write on my wall, but I don’t tend to use Facebook all that often for connecting with people.  Frankly, I don’t use it much at all.  Facebook is a convenient and clever way of having an advanced online telephone book of some sorts by keeping people’s contact information so that there is the option of reconnecting or contacting someone if need be.  I would say that I am in touch with anywhere from 10 to 20 people a week.  Something helpful that Facebook offers is Facebook chat and Facebook messaging.  A group of around ten of my friends and I keep a Facebook message thread going to post lengthy information, pictures, and links.  While we usually use Twitter for addressing a large group of friends at one time, the messaging on Facebook does come in handy when we need to write more than 140 characters.  Usually I am the one being contacted on Facebook.  I do not go out of my way to write on a wall unless it’s someone’s birthday.  If someone writes on my wall, I’ll get the notification and I’ll answer them back, but I am not frequently on it, nor do I feel the need to spend hours scrolling through a random person’s Facebook pictures with whom I sat next to in Spanish in the 10th grade.  I find sharing personal information on Facebook or writing semi-personal things on friend’s Facebook walls to be unnecessary, and I would assume that if I was friend’s with someone and they needed to talk to me, they would have my number and could just call me. 
         Facebook is a hot spot for employers to get a feel for what their prospective employee is really like, and if they would be a good match for the company.  I’ve heard too many stories about how an individual’s Facebook has held them back from getting a job because of inappropriate information and pictures posted on their page.  It is not impossible for employers to view the information that is posted online, and because of this, Facebook can be destructive for some prospective employees.
         If I were to examine my friend, Nelson’s Facebook as an employer, we notice first of all that there is no inappropriate language being used, or inappropriate videos being posted on his wall.  When we further examine it by looking at his photos, we can see that he doesn’t have any pictures suggesting he is using any illegal substances or participating in underage drinking.  Also, under his tagged pictures link, we can get a gist of what Nelson’s interests are and what he likes.  He is in an acapella group, and seemingly spends a lot of his time rowing, and with family.  From an employer’s point of view, Nelsons seems to be a well-rounded, responsible, and professional individual, and his Facebook would further compel me to consider him for a position.