Social media and the end of TV's supremacy, and why it's great for small business

This week I'm giving another workshop presentation for ProfitNet, this time for the Crawley group.The subject is 'An introduction to social media for business', and although it's not the first I've given I find myself doing yet more last minute research to try to ensure what I say is as up to date as possible.

Things change so quickly, and I love uncovering other people's thinking on this as it's all so new and we're all very much learning.

I was excited to come across this from David Armano - an insightful diagram to explain the social engagement spectrum. The comments on the blog post are just as interesting - more than one person suggesting a circular rather than a linear representation may be better. But generally I think it's a great way of setting out the key changes that we're seeing in the media.

When leading a session about social media marketing, my starting point is always how changes in the media, driven by changes in technology, regulation and indeed attitudes, means that our thinking about marketing needs to change too.

Although Armano maintains that the 'old ways' of marketing still hold, in that TV and mass broadcasting are still necessary to build awareness, I think for small business in particular the important thing to realise is that they no longer have the supremacy they once had. Thirty years ago a small business had no hope of marketing itself to a national audience, because TV advertising was the only way to do it and it was too expensive for the little guys.

In the old days, 'creatives' were the agency people who created adverts. These days everyone can be a creative - someone who thinks creatively about the full spectrum of the media and comes up with ideas about how to work with it in new, innovative ways. The move away from dependence upon the old mass media channels has to be good news for small business marketers.

Comments

[Andover IT]

I think things like Twitter, Facebook, blogs and websites are great for small businesses if used correctly.

They give you the chance to build a relationship with a potential client before they actually buy from you and often for an investment of time rather than money.

This means the potential client can get a feel for what you and your business are like and whether they would want to deal with you. This could possibly make them more loyal to you before you've even started with them.

[Chris Healey]

I taught a media studies class at an art college for several years and remember the blank looks on faces as I tried to explain what a "blog" was. Almost before every class I had to research the latest to keep ahead of the younger students until I finally gave up and let the students research and present what they thought was the greatest latest.

[Robin Houghton]

@Andover IT: Thanks for your comments. As you say, social media offers small businesses a great opportunity to build relationships ahead of the sale, and of course after it.

@Chris Healey: That's a good idea! Unfortunately I'm often in front of a group for just a couple of hours, and they expect to get given all the answers...I tend to give them pointers/resources and say it's up to them to go away and look into the areas that interest them. Thanks for commenting.