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Abstract
Social media is currently a component of most business environments. Therefore, it is very important for small businesses to understand how to use social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Small businesses unfortunately do not have a strategy in place when they being using social media to expand their business and engage their customers. Strategies were revealed that suggested what small businesses should do in order to engage with their customers. Finding include creating relationships, increasing brand exposure, focusing on relationship building as opposed to sales, how to increase sales, and how content start interactions. Overall, social media for marketing by small businesses is essential.
Keywords: Social Media, Marketing, Business Strategy, Small Business, Business Start-Up
Introduction
Social media has a problem that exists within its overall approach. The problem is that customers have no shame, follow the crowd, lacking answerability, and acting in secrecy (Guest, 2012). The problem is due to social media enabling customers with tactics that spark negative behavior (Guest, 2012).
Although social media is handled as an extension of the marketers brand in a way that one would hope could be a sales vehicle via email or product description page. Marketers making use of social media juggle between likes and shares. When the number of likes and shares do not measure up they decided to push harder or delete their social media page convinced that it is a marketing tool that is useless.
Melewar & Smith (2003) revealed that the Internet is accessed by over one billion users (p. 363); two-thirds of which access social media (Solis, 2010, pg.17). Casey (2009) suggests that marketing as per the internet is new and more people are getting used to it and its concepts (p.11). The ambiguity of marketing can be beneficial in accordance with communicating via social media. This cultural occurrence has transformed into the new word of mouth due to consumer usage (Thomas, et al., 2012, pg. 88). Despite the ambiguity of marketing by use of social media, social media is beneficial in regards to it still possesses it benefits, advantages, and rewards. For instance, benefits come by way of providing brand awareness, and breaking into new markets at a reduced cost due to control of e-word of mouth...