Why Small Businesses Cannot Ignore Social Media

Do you believe social media isn’t relevant to your small business? Most small business owners I talk to fall into one of these three categories:

1. They do not understand what “social media” is and is not; or
2. They believe it’s not a real business tool and will fade away; or
3. They believe their business cannot adapt and use social media tools

Sound familiar? Now watch this video to see the approaching social media storm…

If you are a small business owner or a SEO who works with them, this should be your wake up call. You may not think your business can be made into a video or that you have something original or unique to say…but you do. As a SEO it is your duty to be creative and generate new and different ways to engage with the social media crowd.

To summarize here are the major highlights:

• By 2010, Generation Y will outnumber Baby Boomers
• 96% of Gen Y have joined a social network
• Social Media is now the #1 internet activity, taking over porn
• If Facebook were a country it would rank as the 4th largest in the world
• The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year old women
• Ashton Kutcher and Ellen DeGeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway, and Panama
• People are moving away from e-mail as a form of communication
• 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands
• 78% of people trust peer recommendations more than advertisements
• 35% of Amazon book sales are for the Kindle
• Social Media is a fundamental shift in how we communicate

If you are a SEO, how are you helping and educating your clients on this shift? If you’re a small business owner, what’s your SEO doing for you?

Shift Happens!