Why Social is the Beginning of the End of Big
Is the age of small upon us? Maybe. That is the official opinion being promoted by social media management firms throughout the nation while others, more conservative in nature, believe it is not so much the age of small as the beginning of the end of Big. Whichever side of the debate you land upon one thing is certain, social media is making David the new Goliath. The information age is now ancient history. Previously difficult to access information has given rise to the proliferation of so much information that it’s nearly impossible to make sense of it all. In fact, the Internet is rapidly being replaced by a new type of immersive experience where the individual dominates every aspect of marketing. Sales, service and support are merging into a single, isolated relationship rather than distinctive steps in a business process. Perhaps most important of all, the consequences of this revolutionary transition currently coined social media marketing is just the beginning. Keep reading to learn how the beginning of the end of Big will impact your business, your future and your life for years to come.
The Devil is in the Details
Forget big business or even Big Brother…the wave of the future isn’t in big. In fact, the future is decidedly small. That is the key message increasingly being shared among the nation’s most cutting edge visionaries and social media marketing firms. In fact, contrary to the prior industrial age where everything was bigger, small is now considered more sustainable and even more desirable. Long gone are the days of doing business with a huge faceless conglomerate; now clients want personalized relationships with providers that hold the same values as they do. Rather than seeing sales, service and support as distinctive cycles in a business process, clients are increasingly likely to see the entire company as a whole…and opt to do business with that provider able and willing to establish a relationship via social media before, during and after the original purchase. Issues such as “trust”, “sustainability”, “green” and “fair trade” are just a few of the important keywords able to take down industry giants like “sale” or “discount”. Most of all, the age of the individual has arrived with niche marketing now becoming the norm…able to target a message to a single isolated individual rather than the prior “mass message” system employed for decades.
The Need for Speed
It has long been understood that one of the problems associated with “big” was how slow and unresponsive big business (or big brother) was known to be; from the inability to respond in a timely manner to the endless red tape associated with making minor changes, big was always associated with major movements. Small was the only size able to generate needed speed. With the advent of technology, the Internet and now social media, the need for speed has increased exponentially. In fact, prior to the Internet, it was considered perfectly acceptable for a business to respond within a week. Even small local business providers like real estate agents may have waited 2-3 days before returning a call. The Internet dramatically shortened average response times with 24-48 hours being the original accepted “norm” to respond to email. That soon dropped to less than a day. Thanks to social media, mobile smart-phones and 24/7 access to nearly every form of information imagined, response rates are now a blinding 1 hour or less. In fact, the most recent research has found a dramatic decline in response/sales rates between those that respond within 5 minutes versus those that take 10 minutes!
Social is Small
It is well understood that the age of social now provides unparalleled opportunity for small business owners, In fact, micro-business may become the new norm as social media management firms provide sole proprietors the ability to out-compete major corporations for a fraction of the cost associated with establishing a retail presence, hiring long term employees and acquiring in-house services. Instead, by outsourcing to reputable social media management firms, entrepreneurs are able to keep costs low while enhancing sales, support and outreach services to clients. By its very nature, social media is small. It is focused upon building relationships that once cultivated, can be used to propel new initiatives to faster sales cycles simply by tapping into your very own client list.
The Advantage of Small
In the biblical tale of David versus Goliath, a single individual slew the giant via the simple act of targeting a few stones to the right spot. Social media – especially local social – works in much the same way! By taking advantage of the benefits derived from being small, business owners are reaping ever increasing rewards able to equalize…if not heighten…the odds of competing against even the biggest business in your own town. Local social search is the hottest trend out there and just the beginning of the end of big. Big business is slow. Small local social business are fast. Big business is unresponsive. Thanks to outsourced social media management services, small local business are fast. Big business is costly. Without long term contracts, minimal inventory and the advantages made possibly by outsourcing only those services and staff needed, small business has a distinct advantage. Best of all, small business is now able to generate profits only dreamt about by big business thanks to leveraging huge economies of scale on an ever decreasing size of client. Now small business owners increasingly have access to the same technology as big business for a fraction of the cost, time and effort.
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