Is social media an uphill challenge or big-time opportunity for SMEs?
10 August 2022
Milan Kundera got it right when he said, "Business has only two functions - marketing and innovation." Isn't that what successful small-and-medium enterprises do? First, they invent a unique value proposition. Then, they discover the most consumable way of promoting it. And today, the hottest platform for SME marketers and business owners to promote their content is social media.
Remember - with the world shrinking at an unprecedented pace, conventional schools of thought around customer psychology are being shut down. The business-customer relationship is evolving from a break-fix model to a predictive one, as you can no longer wait for customers to visit your website or call you to know your business. More than ever, SMEs realize that bringing their social media A-game is the key to adapting to these changing times.
But wait - here are a few social media challenges you will face
Whether promoting paid ads or hiring resources, it's easy for small-and-medium enterprises to consider social media spending as luxurious, at least in the early stages. But, as you may know, even a meaningful LinkedIn ad or a top-notch social media marketer/consultant can cost a fortune considering SMEs' average marketing budgets.
Gaining new followers is another major challenge without a well-thought approach. For instance, you may be posting the Mona Lisa of content, but it may create zero impact without an audience. Even if you use all the right hashtags and themes, thousands (which is why you use them in the first place) do the same. So, what would make your post stand out? Hire more resources to create and strategize better content. Well, that would lead back to the cost problem.
Then, why should your business still use social media?
First, let's examine why social media helps small-and-medium enterprises unearth big-ticket opportunities. Today, your customers can't always wait to fix their marketing problems until they use your product or service. But at least, they need to know the solution's not far from their reach. So establishing a social media presence is recommended - especially during the early phase. By kick-starting it even before the grand launch, you won't be a phantom in a cluttered marketplace by then. And even if your SME has achieved success, an effective social media presence can elevate it to the next level when the right post reaches the right person at the right time.
At what point does social media marketing become irrelevant to an SME owner? Well, that's based on whether they want to stop growing or shut down for good.
You may be wondering if we've forgotten about the cost problem.
Nope!
How to turn uphill social media challenges into big-time opportunities
The trick is to get started by formulating with minimal resources. Sounds almost magical? The practical way to get this done is to ensure that you have a basic content generation, distribution, and promotion plan for social media. As for resources, you don't require a large team. These days, there are enough tools for 2-3 resources to collaborate for writing, designing, scheduling, and posting social media content.
What's truly important is consistency. In today's social buying/servicing ecosystem, authorship is a big deal to build brand credibility. And without a disciplined social media marketing approach, you may lose it.
Hence, despite the challenges, SMEs can use their social media engine to gain customers' trust even before the actual selling journey begins.
We hope this helped you better understand the social media obstacles faced by SME businesses and how you can overcome them. Go to our website to see how we use AI and data science to empower small-and-medium enterprises to transform digitally.
