Hanan Lifshitz authored an interesting post last week in which he asked the following question about SMBs:
- Are they ready to promote themselves online, or, do they fundamentally require a professional middle-man to help them execute the basics of online marketing?
I would argue that the answer is dependent upon the context in which the question is asked.
In the “paid advertising” context — SMBs are not equipped to fend for themselves. It’s a complicated world consisting of bids, clicks, impressions and aggressive sales people. In this context, SMBs would be wise to seek professional help to develop key word strategies, create landing page content, and execute campaigns.
In the “natural search” context — SMBs are typically ill-prepared to “do-it-themselves”. It’s an equally complicated world driven by a constantly changing formula of “on page” and “off page” hygiene. As a result, SMBs are better off getting help from a professional to create key-word rich and structured content, drive inbound links and ensure listings are properly submitted to Google and a myriad of other directories.
However, in the “word-of-mouth” context — SMBs, are inherently well adapted to take matters into their own hands and engage customers and prospects in open and active dialog. This is a world that consists of genuine conversations and social interactions between sellers and buyers. It’s a world that SMBs intiutively understand. Indeed, for thousands of years SMBs have been skilled conversationalist off-line, relying on good old fashion “word-of-mouth” as their primary source of new customers. Although they may not be blogging, facebooking, and twittering yet — the simple truth is that the vast majority of SMBs are competent and active “word-of-mouth” marketers. They intuitively understand the power of conversation. They love to do it, and they’re good at it. Equipped with a simple and cost effective tool set, SMBs will aggressively embrace “self service” and become active participants on the social web.
Let me know if you agree?
I work for Idearc Media and we are working hard to make sure the SMBs are promoting themselves the right way. We recently introduced two programs of note: The SuperGuarantee program found at http://www.superpages.com and the SuperTradeExchange found at http://www.supertradeexhange.com.
The SuperGuarantee backs the work of certain service-based businesses and benefits all businesses as consumers use Superpages because of the guarantee.
The SuperTrade Exchange is a barter network across the country that introduces the services and products of SMBs who may have otherwise not used a particular product or service.
Appreciate the opportunity to post,
Andrew Shane