Over on Social Media Today, Jay Osterholm posts, “Social Media: A Must-Have for Small Business Owners” that includes a pretty interesting infographic detailing some of the ways small businesses are using social media.

But let’s be clear: Social media for small business owners doesn’t mean setting up a Facebook page and waiting for the dollars to come rushing in. In fact, for some small businesses having a Facebook page may be entirely the wrong focus.

Osterholm has it exactly right when he says, “Social media marketing can do remarkable things for your small businesses, but only if it is properly implemented and maintained.”

Takeaway for marketers: Step one on the path to proper implementation is to find someone with significant social media experience whose first statement isn’t “I know just what your business needs,” it’s “I want to know how customers and potential customers interact with your business currently, and what the strongest and most successful offline dynamics are that fuel business growth.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 4th, 2011 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Marketing Takeaways, Social Media.