Thursday, March 15, 2012

Using Social Media for Small Business Marketing Case Studies


Case Studies on Using Social Media for Small Business Marketing

If you’re still wondering just how social media for small business marketing can be performed effectively, here are some success stories, as well as some lessons you can learn from them, that hopefully will inspire you to finally set up that Facebook page or open that Twitter account.
  1. Netfirms is a provider of web hosting as well as related services like domain name searches and registration and e-marketing services. As an initiative to make it easier for customers to avail of their services, Netfirms recently started allowing domain registration via Twitter. All customers had to do was sign up for a Netfirms account then tweet their desired domain name to Netfirms for registration. The lesson: By using social media for small business to make it easier for your customers to avail of your services, you can drive more business to your company.
  2. South Korean Kitchen opened in San Francisco on November 2009 and immediately started using social media for small business techniques to build the business, which should not be surprising given that two of its co-founders are employees of the professional networking site LinkedIn. Apart from gaining Twitter followers and Facebook fans, South Korean Kitchen also used LinkedIn to target bankers and lawyers working in the area by using the site’s ad targeting capabilities. The result: the restaurant not only enjoyed an increase in walk-in business, but also had more requests for corporate catering. The lesson: Use social networking sites to target the customer group that will be the most receptive to your business in order to effectively generate sales.
  3. Butter Lane is a small cupcake bakery based in the East Village, New York. Co-owner Maria Baugh uses a variety of social media sites to enhance customer relations, such as Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Tumblr and Groupon. Through these sites, she is able to keep track of customer feedback on their products and use these comments to make improvements to their service. Baugh believes that social media for small business has greatly contributed to the success of Butter Lane. The lesson: Social networking sites can not only help you keep a finger on the pulse of your customers but also enter into a mutually-beneficial dialogue with them.
If you are interested in using social media for small business marketing but are intimidated by Facebook and Twitter, you can sign up with oGoing instead. The social networking site is aimed specifically at small business owners and is easy to use, even if you have no previous experience with social media. And, if you already have a Twitter or Facebook page, you can easily integrate them with oGoing, allowing you to share your latest updates on these sites with your oGoing friends and vice versa. Check out oGoing today for your small business social media.