Thursday, July 8, 2010
The adoption rate of social media marketing by small businesses may be growing, yet it is still far below that of other organizations. One of the reasons for this is while developers have been successful in attracting early adopters from the technology space they understand, they are unfamiliar with the needs of most small businesses.
New media and small business marketer Jeff Korhan comments, "Entrepreneurs and small business owners are on the move. They are in airports, behind the windshield of their car or pick-up truck, out in the store, or in the warehouse or field. They need to be able to access social media easily and quickly with a mobile device. This means they need better apps, more practical mobile devices, and control over their personal and business identity."
Mobile Applications Mobile applications - better known as apps, are clearly the easiest way to consume and share online content. Well-designed mobile apps load faster than applications on most laptops. They also have a logical, user-friendly sequence for processing information, which can then be readily pushed to friends, colleagues, and customers.
One of the emerging forces on the social Web is real-time search, which Google recently validated by introducing a search exclusively for blogs. This indicates blogs are now a respected source for relevant Web content. And these mobile applications are a natural extension of them.
Practical Mobile Devices Yesterday Borders announced they are finally launching their e-bookstore. While some think they may be late to the party, Borders CEO Mike Edwards suggests the market is still warming up.
Borders recently began selling their Kobo e-reader for $149.99, which is far below the price of a Kindle or an iPad. When the price of e-readers drops to a more affordable level, they will become practical for millions of small businesses. This will accelerate the expected shift for accessing Web content on the fly.
The idea is simple: Make the reader an affordable, everyday appliance, and then charge a fair price or rate for the content that is delivered. This pay-as-you go formula is easier on the tight budgets of small businesses, and is sure to result in the distribution of more content that they may not otherwise have access to.
Privacy Controls There are many successful small business owners that are ready to embrace social media marketing, but they want to do it at their own pace. This can start with one of the most valuable social media activities – monitoring the networks and channels for what people are saying about their brand.
One obstacle to this first step is the fear of not having sufficient control over privacy. While such innovations as location based data are clearly looming influences within social media circles, they may well work against bringing more small businesses into this arena.
Social media is earning the interest of small businesses that want to use it to better interact with their current and future customers, but the first step is to make it more suitable for them.
Jeff Korhan is a new media marketer who helps entrepreneurs and small business owners maximize their Web visibility, reputation, and referrals with social media and Internet marketing.
He is presenting Strategic Social Media Marketing, a half-day workshop for garden centers and growers on Saturday, July 10th in Columbus, OH at the OFA Short Course, considered to be one of the leading events in the green industry. Jeff Korhan blogs daily on small business Web marketing at
JeffKorhan.com