According Social Media Examiner’s 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, about seventy percent of SMBs say that social media is important to their business. Facebook was listed as the top social media tool followed by Twitter, Linkedin and Blogs.
Generating more business exposure was cited as the top advantage of social media marketing. Other benefits include increased traffic and improved search rankings.
But, social media marketing does take time away from the SMBs primary business of selling. More than half of marketers are using social media for six or more hours each week. Compare that with the thirty minutes it takes to create and order a newspaper ad and it’s easy to understand why many SMBs are still advertising like it’s 1999.
Brands can do the heavy lifting here and offer their dealers Facebook advertising, and co-branded content for Facebook, Twitter and YouTube through their advertising portals. It not only flattens the learning curve for dealers but also ensures that additional business exposure enjoyed by their dealers includes their brand message.