Small Businesses marketed by social media

 By Camila Zuluaga

EASTON– When Will Bradley started his photography business, he turned to social media to find customers.

“Social media has allowed me to get a majority of my opportunities,” said Bradley.

He said 90% of his networking, content, and work is spread across social media.

Social media has grown across the globe, and it continues to do so. According to The University of Maine, there are 4.8 billion social media users worldwide representing 59.9% of the global population. The university reports people worldwide 11.5 billion hours on social media platforms daily. 

This boom in social media has increased visibility for small businesses.

“After COVID, you start to see a small boom and smaller businesses come out and really engage with their followers. So since then, and in general, there’s been increased visibility and direct engagement,” Kayla Pierce, a marketing professor at Stonehill College, said.

She said social media gave small businesses more access to resources, and a way to engage and make more personal connections with their followers. Through features like live questions, polls, events, and pop-ups allow all of these connections.

Pierce said other advantages for small businesses using social media is that it is cost effective and allows more targeted marketing, consumer feedback. Through feedback the business could continue to adapt even if it is negative, she said.

Courtney Spenser, an assistant professor of marketing at Stonehill College, said social media has always been a form of communication and the development of apps like Facebook helped business.

“What are these new technologies where we can communicate with consumers directly through these platforms? This is new and interesting,” Spenser said.

She said it took businesses some time to understand that social media was a two-way conversation, but now social media has impacted kind of every facet of business, she said.

Spenser said that for small businesses social media was cost effective to reach their consumers because there often sign-up fees, making them as cost effective. Social media allows quick updates, a space to promote events, inform consumers, and is time efficient which makes the business have less need for employees, she said.

“For small businesses, that’s a huge advantage point when running on these limited budgets,” said Spenser.

She said that brand enhancement was also possible in these platforms, and small businesses could use websites like Canva or AI to put out good quality content. 

Pierce said social media could help with brand awareness and drive traffic up to business pages and products.

“It is good marketing,” she said.

Ellen Krzemien, owner and founder of The Flower Stand, said that she used Instagram and Facebook as social media tools, and that it was unpaid marketing for her. She said she like these platforms because they are very visual and allows her to show the beauty of her business. 

“Social media has been an extremely powerful amplifier, because what I do is very visual. Flowers are visual,” Krzemien said.

The Flower Stand is a boutique seasonal flower farm known for specialty blooms, she said. It is a destination spot in Western New York where people come to pick flowers, take photos, and do some experiences including some events. 

She said in addition to the beauty of her farm and her business, Instagram and Facebook also helped her promote her business. Krzemien said Facebook helped her find her local community, and Instagram helped her connect with her customers through tags and reposts.

“People posting photos that get shared or viewed has helped my business more than any advertising could do,” she said.

Will Bradley, a senior at Stonehill College and founder of the creative agency “Creative Chaos,” said that social media had a great influence on growing his business.

He said YouTube and Instagram were the best platforms for his business. Creative chaos, he said, is a mix between a creative agency and a media publication that assists in creative direction for various music artists within the industry.

Bradley said that despite feeling the force to create and upkeep an account, and the negative feeling of needing to push his work and name out, he has found that social media has given him more positive than negative outcomes.

https://umaine.edu/undiscoveredmaine/small-business/resources/marketing-for-small-business/social-media-tools/social-media-statistics-details/