Blogs and social networking sites for small businesses

Facebook and Twitter have seen their success increase dramatically in recent months as new users flock to them in their millions.

It would therefore seem opportune for small businesses to engage with blogging and social networking sites to market themselves and reach new customers while keeping in touch with existing ones. And all this, for often no other expense than time and a little imagination.

The number of users on the micro-blogging site Twitter grew by 1382% between February 08 and February 09 (Nielsen) and by 131% in March alone to reach over 9 million users (ComScore). Facebook's worldwide growth rate has been 175% year on year, leaving the site with 275 million unique visitors and 200 million users in February 09 (ComScore).

According to a study of over 500 small businesses across the UK conducted by O2 (press release)17% (nearly two in ten) are using Twitter. 62% considered one of the greatest benefits to be a cut in costs. Among the most common ways they were using Twitter to reduce overheads was for marketing and to recruit new staff. Over one in ten (16%) had been able to save up to £5,000 since signing up to the service. Nearly a third had saved up to £1,000. The research however does not specify what that money was previously spent on or whether the change of method brought in the same results.

Blogs v social networking sites

While your website is there to convey basic facts and information about your business and what it offers, blogs are a more dynamic way of engaging, and sometimes interacting with people online, though they tend to remain a slightly one-sided approach in that they are often about one person or company “talking to” their audience.

They do present the advantage of disseminating your content directly to your readers via RSS feeds and news readers.

Social networks on the other hand place you on the same level as your audience. The aim here is to connect people and help them share information with each other.

From a marketing perspective, social networking sites should be seen as complementary tools to blogs, in that they can help disseminate their contents and drive traffic towards them. This is reinforced by the potentially high levels of integration that can be achieved between all those websites (changes on one site can appear automatically on another and vice versa).

The right approach

When creating content for a blog and/or a social networking site, the emphasis should be to try and reach as many people as possible. It is about soft selling. You should try to attract people and get them to discover your business and what is interesting about it with the content you create rather try to sell them your products directly.

The B&B and self-catering industry is about the personal touch and the elements of the Internet inviting interaction between users are a great way to develop and publicise an authentic, attractive and original persona, that will attract traffic to your site and in turn guests to your business.

Before you get started and sign up to those online accounts, you need to sit down and reflect on what you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it. Considering blog and social networking in the context of an online marketing plan is essential. Looking at what other people in a similar situation are doing is also a good idea.

Social networking sites, because they require less input, do not require so much planning. It is more a question of getting stuck in.

Do not forget to advertise your blog and various profiles on your site and newsletter.

Blogs and micro-blogs

Posts to a blog can be as long or as short as the publisher wants, although keeping it short is always a good idea. In that respect, micro-blogging sites, such as Twitter and Jaiku, limit the length of each post to 140 characters (the size of a text message).

You can set up both or either. A blog allows you to tell stories or develop arguments, whereas micro-blogs are about bringing something to your readers’ attention or telling them what you are doing. You can therefore use the micro-blog to inform people of a post on your “normal” blog.

In both cases, though, the output has to be regular, original and, especially for a business, tailored to the targeted audience. Consider your content as a way to bring information to your audience rather than trying to sell them something. Place yourself in the shoes of your readers and see what in your world would be of interest to them. Avoid “spammy” posts at all cost.

Registering your blog to online directories, posting relevant comments on other people’s blogs and 'tweet feeds' are a good way to make yourself known. You can also suggest reciprocal linking on your respective “blogrolls” to other blogs you like and you think might have a readership you are interested in attracting.

Consider having guest bloggers posting on your own blog (either fellow bloggers you are in contact with or perhaps even some of your guests telling you about their holiday at your B&B/self catering property).

Using websites such as Youtube or Vimeo (for videos), and flickr or Picasa (for images) not only allows you to create more attractive content on your blog (videos and images from these sites can be “embedded” in your blog posts), it will also expand your Internet presence and provide extra opportunities to drive traffic to your website and for people to hear about you.

Online social networks

The major networking sites are Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and LinkedIn. Because of the demographics of the users of these various sites, it is probably more effective from a business perspective to focus solely on Facebook (Bebo and MySpace generally attract younger people while LinkedIn is more a business networking site).

It is worth noting too that Facebook is most popular with women (usually the decision makers when it comes to holidays), while men are more likely to use MySpace.

Facebook offers users profiles, groups and fan pages. While it is recommended to have all three (you have to have a profile to use Facebook), a business should at the very least have a fan page.

When signing up, you will be given the opportunity to add “friends”. As a good way to start the ball rolling, get the website to trawl through your mailing list to see if any of your guests already have a profile and then invite them to become fans of your fan page. You can also use your profile to reach out to other people in your industry.

Include pictures and links to some of your blog posts to your fan page. Your profile is perhaps not so important. You can send mass messages to your “fans” but, once again ensure that they are not too “spammy”, too long or sent too often.

Conclusion

Blogs and social networking sites offer great marketing opportunities but can easily become time consuming; something worth considering before taking this route. In that respect, Twitter could be perceived as redundant if you already have a blog and a Facebook presence. The major advantage of this approach is that it is (mostly) free. This gives more scope for experimentation.

Whatever you do, however, always bear in mind that these are public platforms and that everything you post will be available to anyone and have a bearing on the public image of your business.

An online presence has become indispensable for any business but it remains your decision to see whether blogs and social networking sites can bring any extra value to your business.

Further reading

A Twitter Guide for Marketers, Mojave (pdf file)3 Rules of Using Twitter for Business, MarketingProfessor.com50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business, Chris BroganBeginner’s Guide to Using Twitter for Business, Duct Tape MarketingTop Social Media for Marketers: Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, Media Buyer PlannerThe Business That Got Creative With Twitter. How Are YOU Getting Creative?, Mr Tweet