There are now 5.7 million small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) present in the UK and this represents over 99% of all businesses that are in operation.
A study showed that small and medium sized businesses in the UK are losing out on up to £122billion in sales revenue by failing to embrace marketing. Despite SMEs making up nearly most of the business scene, the lack of investment within marketing means they are losing out to bigger competitors who already have the money for their marketing budget.
In addition, 87% of SME owners actually agree that investing in their marketing efforts could help to improve sales. So, what’s the issue at hand? The findings from the research showed that 35% of SMEs blamed lack of financial resources and that 21% blamed lack of time for not being able to work on their marketing efforts.
According to the research, the majority of SME owners tend to juggle different hats, and when the main aim of their business is to create revenue, functions such as sales or operations have to come before marketing. It may also not be financially viable to hire a new marketing coordinator immediately, especially as you may not understand the value of it yet and how it can help propel your business.
Does marketing have to be hard though? Does it even have to be expensive? Absolutely not! SME owners may set aside a cost for marketing materials such as leaflets, brochures, business cards, branded note pads and pens; the cost for improving your marketing efforts can be much lower, especially through the use of digital marketing methods such as email marketing and social media.
So why use social media? Firstly, EVERYONE uses it. Facebook for example has 2.23 billion monthly active users (MAUs) worldwide, in the UK there are 39.2 million MAUs. So that’s 39.2 million chances for your product or service to be seen! Who wouldn’t want that type of exposure for their business? Not to mention, Facebook, as well as most social media channels are completely free to use. The only time you would be required to pay is when setting up ads, and even these can be quite cheap.
Do you sell a niche product, clothes, cars or art? Then Instagram would also be a great place to show off your business and make sales. 80% of users also choose to connect with a brand on the platform so that would be a great way of seeing what your target audience feels about your product/service. Not only can you create a large following for your brand but you can take advantage of their shopping feature. This is a great way to sell your products immediately and it lessens the time a potential customer has from browsing your Instagram page to then searching tirelessly for the product on your website.
As well as promoting your brand and products on social media, you can use different platforms to gain better insights on how your followers feel about your brand, products and services. Twitter is an especially good example of where many businesses have used the platform as more of a ‘customer service’ point in order to solve queries and complaints effectively. It’s also a great way to show the more humorous and relaxed side of your business, like Wendy’s for example. They’re known for their witty comebacks, interaction with followers and for playfully roasting other competitors.
Using social media doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. It doesn’t even have to take up so much time, just a small investment of 30 minutes a day can make a huge difference. It can be fun and hugely beneficial if you know how to use it to the advantage of your business. If you’re not sure where to start, follow this great guide from Hootsuite where it lays out easy steps to improving your social media.
If you’re ready to take the next step and would like us to help you with your social media strategy and content, please email us on info@bey-digital.com.