Is social media the great leveler?
Thursday, 17th June , 2010
Social media makes it possible for small businesses to compete with Fortune 500 companies. In the same way that David took on Goliath, you can compete with your largest competitor…and win. Social media has been hailed as the great leveler, but is it really that simple?
Before social media came along, advertising budgets often limited small business growth. Now, companies can reach thousands of potential customers for a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising. With social media costing nothing to use, the best offerings would rise to the top and easily be found by consumers.
So has social media leveled the field?
The assumption behind the argument is that social media removes media spend from the equation. And without media spend, the field is leveled.
While the outlets for social media are free, the strategy, creation, execution and on-going relationship building all have real costs assigned to them. With small businesses having limited marketing dollars, outsourcing much, if any, of their social media marketing may not be possible.
Costs are shifted, not eliminated
So even when we remove media spend from the equation, marketing costs can remain high. Meaning that many small businesses may still be at a disadvantage to their larger competitors.
So what do you think? Has social media leveled the playing field for small business?
About the Author
Rich is the president and founder of Radium, an enterprise digital marketing agency specializing in search and social media. He is a Google AdWords qualified professional and splits his time between Austin Texas & Charlotte NC. Follow Rich on twitter.
Kyle
June 18th, 2010
Kyle said:
I think social media has made it easier for exceptional small business to compete with their larger competitors.
But for most small business that can’t afford to outsource social media duties and aren’t savvy enough communicators to create effective content and constantly update their streams with relevant stuff, I don’t see it helping that much.
Rich Angstadt
June 18th, 2010
Rich Angstadt said:
Thanks for the comment Kyle. The keyword you use is “exceptional” or another way to put this is popular. If you operate within an exciting space or offer a “cool” product it’s a lot easier to get customers to spread your message.
Sarah
June 23rd, 2010
Sarah said:
Social media is a great leveler on different scales actually. As a small business it might be very difficult to manage Twitter/Facebook profiles and also focus on business, unless of course this is what you do for a living. It is great as a social tool as I often see politicians, authors and actors directly talking to common people and responding to them one-one basis.
~~ Sarah ~~
Uncle Jojo
April 9th, 2011
Uncle Jojo said:
Social media is a booming by-product of the internet explosion. It is not the great leveler; the unrestricted internet is.
Social media has become an effective marketing medium that most businesses can use. Big business has the financial strings to maximize its potentials.
Sarah and Kyle did make a valid point: small businesses may have a tougher time to utilize this, unless they decide to hire internet marketing experts who can help them navigate in the confusing sea of unorgarnized, fiercely competitive mine fields of keywords, search engine optimization, landing page, website analytics — basically the bread and butter of internet marketers.