Digital ecosystem today is in an exponential stage. Many small businesses are welcoming this change by leveraging the growth opportunities in this digitally driven world. A major component of this digitally driven world is the social media, especially Facebook.
We all know how the recent travel of Mark Zuckerberg to the rural areas of India sparked a new wave of being active on social media channels. Facebook is not just a place to be socially connected, but has become a digitally driven marketspace.
In the corporate world, social media promotions and campaigns are of great importance and hold a major stake. Not only does it help in promoting the business, but also in connecting with the existing as well as potential consumers directly to spread a word.
People look up to a brand’s official page first and hope that their action gets noticed instantly. Other media channels are also being explored. However, Facebook, with its special focus on promoting businesses and campaigns such as #FacebookForBusiness, is rising as a popular social media platform for small and growing businesses.
Facebook has come to the rescue of small business owners who cannot afford to have a website or a proper e-Commerce web page. Shopping groups and pages have a proper category to sell the products directly from there. You can quote the price, chat via messenger with the potential customers, receive and resolve a queries and even mark the products which are already sold.
Lead ads are another way by which small business owners are building up their data and can track consumers who visited the store via that lead. Events such as the Dastkar Mela, Crafts Mela etc, have been very popular and can be used to make people aware of these flea markets.
Government of India has been taking care of the welfare of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) with various programmes to help the people working in this industry. Many have subscribed to these events section. Word of Mouth with geo tagging play a key role in this.
Messenger section has categorised the queries providing clarity to the business owners to let them know to which demography the audience is associated with, whether they are asking for recommendation, inquiring about the price, asking about the map, or even calling the physical store directly from the Facebook page.
Providing contact details and locating the shops correctly, is one of the important aspects that SMEs need to keep in mind, since many restaurants and key outlets are being searched via Facebook.
Facebook algorithms change almost every month with some new feature or modification. For example, integration of Instagram with Facebook page has helped business owners in many ways.
Many influencers are promoting these pages directly with their social handles. Little Black Book or DforDelhi, are promoting newly launched stores, restaurants and creative craft outlets via their Instagram stories, Facebook live sessions and videos. Bloggers and influencers are another category through which SMEs are promoting their businesses.
Facebook ads have clear objectives – there are more than 10 Call-to-Action (or CTA) features which you can opt from. It is this wide range of low-cost advertising options, that has led many small business entrepreneurs to opt for this channel.
Well, this is just a glimpse of the bigger picture. Small businesses are adapting a lot from their competitors and soon there might be learning centres as well where small business owners can enroll themselves and get their advertising solutions done.
With so many features and functionalities available on Facebook for small businesses, we can expect that Indian SMEs will grow and flourish by leveraging the platform.
(Opinion piece by Paras Singh – Head of Digital Marketing, Biz2Credit)
Source: Techstory
