Can Twitter and Facebook help you sell to small business?

Guest Contributor: Albert Luk

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Much has been made of Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools as new ways for business to reach their target audience. But is this nothing more than media hype or can Twitter and Facebook help you reach your small business audience?

It depends on several factors.

Given that Twitter and Facebook are both free applications and, since small business owners are value shoppers at heart, the barrier to entry is relatively low to reach your target audience; for curiosity's sake, many small business owners have become Twitter or Facebook subscribers just to see what all the fuss is about; thus, there isn't a large issue getting your potential audience to subscribe for the medium.

The ability to form groups or Twitter tweets also facilitates the ability to create community among other consumers of your good and product. Interactivity is always a constructive way to lower barriers between people.

However, there are also a few things to remember about the nature of the medium itself and your audience. As a personal finance blog pointed out, social media is about connecting people first and sales second. Thus, social media, unless your business is internet based, should not be seen as the primary selling tool to small business.

The other practical issue is the audience. Small business owners work long days and nights. I am not sure, practically speaking, that they have the time to log hours on Facebook or Twitter daily.

The bottom line is that Twitter and Facebook can be useful tools in selling to small business but it does not substitute face to face interaction and the process of building a relationship- the key building blocks of any successful sales strategy.