Continuing on from here, two more reasons why social media is a great option for smaller businesses.

Four:  It’s not just about cost effective marketing. That’s the most obvious and probably most used application, but once you’ve created your social media network, the ways it can work for you are almost unlimited. Got a job vacancy? Send it out to your network. If nobody is directly qualified, it’s likely they’ll know someone who is. Need help with anything from book-keeping to moving premises? Get the word out there – it’s amazing how willing people are  to help you when they know what you need.

Five: Lastly but perhaps most importantly: YOU own your audience .

Unlike marketing through the local paper or someone else’s website, once you have a Facebook (or Twitter or LinkedIn or…) following, that audience is yours and there for you to access whenever you have something to tell them.

That audience is a tangible asset, which will be yours for as long as you keep engaging with them and providing them with good, interesting content.

So. investing in social media is an investment in a great, ongoing marketing channel that will keep working for you into the future – what’s not to love?!