How SMBs Can Use Social to Win Customers (and Keep Them) [Infographic]

Too many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) still believe that they don’t need social media, or they don’t have the time to invest in it. With more than 80 percent of the world’s population now reachable via social media platforms, however, it’s hard to imagine the company that wouldn’t benefit from accessing such a wide audience. At each stage of the customer lifecycle – from first contact with a prospect to repeat sales over a long-term relationship – SMBs can use social media to improve their communications and, by extension, their bottom lines. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others are useful for engaging with potential buyers, onboarding new customers and creating more personalized customer experiences, particularly when social media data is combined with the data in a customer relationship management (CRM) system.

Social media for engaging with prospects The number of consumers engaging with companies via social media grew from 19 percent in 2011 to 36 percent in 2012, according to report by Social Media Examiner. While that number is not yet a majority, the trajectory is clearly upward, and more and more people expect to find the companies with which they do business available to them on social media. That trend extends to the business-to-business realm, too, where buying decisions are made by people who naturally bring some of their personal shopping experiences and expectations to their professional purchasing roles.

Social media for closing the deal SMBs can’t afford to ignore the statistics around sales and social media. About 40 percent of social media users have purchased an item online or in store after sharing it on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest, according to a study by Vision Critical. That’s a critical audience of customers who not only purchase, but also recommend others do the same. Here are a couple more compelling numbers: Last year, 52 percent of marketers acquired a customer on Facebook, 43 percent acquired one on LinkedIn, and 37 percent of B2B buyers asked questions of the companies with which they do business via social media, according to HubSpot.

Social media for onboarding new customers It used to be that a happy customer would tell his friends, neighbors and colleagues about his positive experiences with a company; now he tells the world. As SMBs bring new customers into the fold, the way they manage them – via social media and other channels – impacts the substance of those customers’ communications with others. Studies also show that those who engage in customer service requests via social media end up spending more – as long as those engagements go well.

Social media for personalizing the customer experience When combined with a CRM, the data SMBs draw from social media interactions can help build a loyal customer base. And yet, fewer than 25 percent of businesses actively use social media for customer care engagement or use CRM for re-engaging leads after an initial sale. That represents an enormous revenue opportunity for SMBs that do take these steps. With the explosive growth in social media, capturing and organizing customer interaction data is essential for SMBs that hope to thrive in today’s marketplace. If small businesses wait too long to adapt to the social nature of customer and business interactions, they will miss broad revenue opportunities and risk their own longevity.

How SMBs Can Use Social to Win Customers (and Keep Them) [Infographic]