“What we believe sets us apart is that we listen and engage with our customers directly on our Facebook page and avoid simply pushing a marketing message or trying to sell through Facebook,” he says.
“As a retailer that sells online-only, Facebook has been invaluable to us. It allows us to demonstrate our dedication to customer service and satisfaction in a public forum for all to see.”
“Allowing our customers to share their experiences with us, and their friends, eases any apprehension consumers may have about spending $1,000 online to buy a fridge they have only seen in pictures on our website.”
Getting customer centric
This management of product image in the social sphere is what Olsen sees as creating accessibility to his brand.
The more visible they are to their customers, the more likely they can head off any negative connotations that could be associated to them.
“In addition to Facebook we have a presence on both Twitter and YouTube, as well as a number of Australian internet forums,” he says.
“It’s important to be visible, but it’s more important to be active where your customers are.”
Value ads?
While having a visible presence on these networks is important to Olsen, the lure of advertising through them has yet to catch on – though that’s not to say that it should be ignored.
“We believe the ROI on advertising on social networks is a hard one to quantify – but if you can build up a model and the numbers make sense for your business it is not something that should be dismissed entirely,” he says.
This is an area in which Cliff Rosenberg, LinkedIn’s managing director of South East Asia and Australia/NZ, has been educating small business for a number of years.
For Rosenberg, social media platforms have to offer a compelling channel for small businesses to engage with their customers or risk losing them to more “traditional” methods of online advertising.
“As a small business, they may not have large marketing budgets so there’s a clear need to be savvy and creative in marketing themselves on social media platforms,” he explains.
“Currently over 10% of LinkedIn members in Australia are small business owners.”
“We have tools for companies of any size and budget level… our Marketing Solutions business involves display creative, custom solutions and enhanced engagement tools.”
“LinkedIn Ads, our primarily text-based ad system (for direct response marketing), allows advertisers to create their own campaigns and set their own bids.”
Picking your social media battles
So, will social networking tools such as these, along with everything from Foursquare to YouTube, put your business in the game?
According to The Online Circle’s Ribeiro, it’s a channel that should be taken with a grain of salt – where it works for those whose business relies on an online presence, other areas such as services should be more careful, especially if you’re only able to service a certain location. You could get more traffic but not necessarily in your area.
“When I’ve worked with SMEs before, the return is really difficult to earn for these guys, especially the guys offering services in regional areas,” he says.
“I think Google+ offers a lot of resources – there is definitely a good reason to be using it… I just don’t know where it is taking small business specifically.”
“I would advise SMEs to look at Google+ mainly for the resources it offers such as Conference Call – which could impact in the overhead costs for an SME… this isn’t about gaining new business/lead generation, it’s about potentially saving your business money.”
“However, I’m not sure if Google+ will go anywhere – you’ll have a lot of people following but I don’t think it’s going to be a hit the mainstream like Facebook.”
