Recently, there seems to be a number of articles and announcements dealing with social media for small businesses, in particular, helping to integrate and provide social media services. Is it that small businesses are somehow different from their larger counterparts and need to be served in a different way?
The answer to this question is not a direct yes or no.
Most companies, large or small, adhere to the rules of best business practice, but due to the different size of companies, their internal structures differ greatly.
Larger companies often develop into flat organizational structures in which each independent department is responsible for decision-making, who then reports to a senior manager, while smaller companies have a taller, narrower structure with one or more. two decision makers responsible for most of the company’s decisions, much more. multitasking involved.
In a report conducted in recent months by King Fish Media in association with Junta 42 and Hubspot, 72% of companies claimed to have a social media policy and, of the other companies, 80% of them stated that they will implement one. within the next year.
It’s almost hard to believe then that only 9% of these companies have a full-time position within the company to handle all of the social media requirements. However, these figures need to be contextualized. Of all the companies in this report, 77% were companies with 50 or fewer employees, but only 3% had between 500 and 1,000 employees.
We can start to see here the difference between small and large companies. Larger companies have seized the opportunity to benefit from this new and efficient form of customer communication and marketing, many of them have sought professional advice from outside professional companies and as a result have taken steps to establish specific departments or include their own. efforts in existing marketing or public relations departments. Smaller companies can be seen as demanding a strategy, but as we can see from these figures, most have not committed enough resources or made the necessary effort to adopt a successful policy.
Starbucks, Ford and Dell, who have realistic budgets and professionals working on their campaigns, can clearly see examples of the success that social media, communication and marketing can bring.
Now I know that for many smaller companies, the logistics of hiring a full-time professional can be somewhat overwhelming, especially if you don’t know what qualities to look for or what kind of parameters to set for your new hire.
Outsourcing the requirements of smaller companies makes much more business sense in most cases. Businesses can consult or seek professional advice from social media companies and engage them on more favorable terms than hiring a full-time employee.
So in response to the original question, it seems like small and large businesses need to be treated differently when considering their social media requirements and logistics. When it comes to their social media needs, small businesses are largely missing out on the benefits that a well-executed campaign can bring.
The place to start for a smaller business is to gather as much information as possible before launching.
PJD’s social media is for a limited time and offers a free 30-minute consultation to help small businesses take advantage of this great business channel. Arrange a call as all it will cost is 30 minutes of your time, but you can learn a lot. Ask all the questions you’re unsure about, how to get started, how to maximize your time and effort, and where you should be spending your time, as well as the best ways to outsource some of your social media tasks.