According to a recent article, small businesses say they don’t consider social media an imperative to business. However, they say word of mouth is very important. That seems like a disconnect to me considering social media marketing is word of mouth!
In fact social media is the most powerful of word of mouth. Here’s why.
Unlimited: Word of mouth happens online at the speed of the keyboard. And the audience isn’t limited to your best friend or buddy at work. The potential audience is billions strong. Word of mouth has always had weight. Now combined with social media it has breadth as well.
Expanding: Along the same vein is that now word of mouth can build. If one person says something negative and another agrees, the audience has grown exponentially. It can go from one network to another and to another. Or conversely, if someone says something great and no one else agrees or pushes the conversation it can die.
Unending: When someone posts something online there is a good chance it will be there a long time. What happens on the Internet stays on the Internet. Forever, in many cases. That means that mistake from years ago, can still sabotage a sale today.
So why is all this seemingly negative information great for business? Because you can see these conversations and respond to them. In a traditional word of mouth scenario, people share something negative and you never hear about it. All you hear is that new customer never calling.
But with conversations happening in social media not only can you hear the conversation, you can shape it. You can respond to complaints and turn a brand killer into a brand barbarian.
Social media has been described as a cocktail party where everyone is invited. You should go. Find out what people are talking about. Be available and start a dialogue.
And check out our new E-book 5 Marketing Tactics for Small Business.