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On a local scale, a homemade food delivery service near me spends all of its $40,000 marketing budget online as the return on investment is better than advertising in the local paper.

On a global scale, newspaper classified ad revenue in the US has plummeted from almost $20billion in 2000 to just under $10billion in 2008.

In the UK, revenue from online advertising surpassed TV revenue last year (it had surpassed radio and print a few years previously).

The bulk of this revenue is generated by Google through businesses using it as a marketing platform. It is not difficult to step in at the shallow end of online marketing.

Are social media networks the answer to growing your SME?

We have witnessed the exponential growth of social media networks in the last 12 months.

Facebook has grown 93.4 percent, and now has over 5.6m registered users in Australia (26 percent of the population), and Twitter has increased its unique audience by almost 700,000 users over the same period. LinkedIn, a professional social network, has more than 40million members worldwide.

There is an incredible, low-cost opportunity for SMEs to leverage this phenomenon to increase their sales and brand awareness.

Don’t know how to do it then we can help.

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The customers are already there, with large networks of friends and colleagues to tap into. These sites offer small businesses the chance to interact with potential clients without the constraints of location or exorbitant costs.

The entry cost is low, there is no need to create complicated websites and their own online community can be up and running in minutes. SMEs can utilise this avenue to issue announcements and updates to clients, offering discounts and introducing new products.

There is also greater customer engagement, as it facilitates an open dialogue with consumers, which allows SMEs to better service their needs and to gauge client sentiment through voting polls. SMEs can build their businesses through LinkedIn, which facilitates connections to an extended network of people, helping them to stay informed about industry developments and to exchange information.

To avoid being swept up in the hype surrounding social media networks, it is important to remain focussed on strategy and desired outcomes. Online seminars are available to help SMEs harness the power of Web 2.0 marketing, and there is an abundance of resources focussing on how to best make this media work for your business.

Use our contact form for free advice