How to promote small businesses?
It is common to hear about small businesses and their importance in generating innovative ideas and their contribution to the creation of new jobs. The truth is that SMEs have significant strengths, such as the “entrepreneurial spirit” of their creators, people with great initiative and desire to excel. But “the other side of the coin,” lies in the lack of capital to enable them to implement sales and marketing activities for development.
Today, and recognizing the contributions that gives us the technology, social networks open up an interesting opportunity for SMEs to enhance their activities. We are experiencing a new reality, where “Web 2.0″ and “social media” rule the world.
Social networks, beyond being a means of communication between friends or a simple way to entertain, represent an important tool for the actions of a small or medium business. Thus and for example, lack of capital means that many firms do not advocacy. So how trying to build a business if you can not communicate to the market? Creativity is not enough sometimes, and this is where social networks can feed the growth of SMEs to bring them closer to stakeholders: contact customers and potential customers.
One of the main advantages that brings social networking, and unlike other media, is that one has direct contact with consumers and is able to meet the specific needs and desires. There is then two-way interaction, so there is an opportunity for SMEs to listen to consumers and to answer questions and offer a more personalized. These are key ingredients to build relationships and add to the long term.
Are common, eg Facebook, profiles of SMEs in different activities. Still to mention a few cases, we found that offer business pages apparel, accessories, desserts, home barbecues, catering business, delivery of drinks, among many others. Through social networks, millions of people can access products and services of different kinds.