Social media's role in small businesses

Small business marketing has become less complex, depending on how technologically-savvy people who are controlling the company are. Considering there are more than a billion users on social networks around the country, spending more time marketing on these platforms has become more important.

Developing a social media presence is a necessity than an option for small businesses looking to increase their business and expand their reach beyond the clientele they are currently serving.

Forbes recently published an article that detailed how a business can thrive in a social media-dominated environment, stating that what could be accomplished by a simple website in the past now has to be supplemented with detailed and responsive social media offers.

The 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report revealed that 94 percent of all businesses with a marketing department have now begun to use social media as part of their marketing platform and almost 60 percent of marketers are devoting the equivalent of a full work day to social media marketing development and maintenance.

The report also showed that 43 percent of people between the ages of 20 and 29 spend more than 10 hours a week on social media and 85 percent of all businesses that have spent time on a social media platform as part of a marketing strategy reported an increase in their marketing exposure.

The source highlighted the primary three social media outlets that businesses are using, including Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Using these outlets, companies are encouraged to come up with a strategy that will expand its business in addition to reaching more customers who are in need of what the company offers.

Forbes reported that an owner knowing their business and its target audience is key to ensuring the best possible outcomes for their company. Perfecting a social media strategy can be the difference between a business thriving and falling into the cracks as just another failed venture.

According to a recent study by McKinsey, social technologies could potentially contribute an estimated $900 billion to $1.3 trillion in annual value to businesses, surely a welcome sign to the economy, which has struggled since the beginning of the recession.