A Digital Marketing Guide For Small Businesses

07/09/2011

By Manish Mehta, Vice President For Social Media and Community, Dell

Technology firm Dell has been a forerunner in using Twitter to highlight deals to loyal consumers. What advice does Dell VP for social media and community, Manish Mehta, have for the smaller business?

How important is it for SMEs to become involved in social media?

Social media is a strong marketing tool that any size organisation can use. It’s especially useful for mid-size and smaller companies who want to interact with their existing and potential customers, without the cost and location limitations of other marketing tools.

SMEs can reach out to existing ‘followers’, recruit...

...new ‘followers’ and then have conversations with them using social media, just like they would in a physical networking situation.

Who could have predicted what Twitter has done to the world of business two years ago? Social media is incredibly powerful but it should be only part of your marketing strategy, not your only strategy.

It’s easy to set up a Facebook or LinkedIn page, and then you’re playing on a level field against your bigger competitors. But it will only work if you combine it with a wider digital marketing strategy - informed and continually supported by and in support of SEO, Adwords, customer retention, newsletters, PR and all your other marketing activities.

And the fundamentals of social networking are just the same as traditional marketing — you still need a great hook, and be able to offer something of value to a potential customer.

As online advertising is becoming less and less profitable, how do you see companies making money in the future?

Dell’s social media efforts are about listening and connecting with customers, furthering our relationships and realising value of direct customer understanding and connections. You might think about it in terms of the neighbourhood restaurant you or... continued on page two >

 

 

Advertisement

Advertisement