Salentine/Sanderson

Trends Assignment

Social Media Designed For Small Businesses

Jeremy Salentine

Dan Sanderson

HT 344

Prof. Brey

October 1, 2012

Salentine/Sanderson

Small Hospitality Businesses Team Up

In the most recent decade social media has become increasingly more popular and

important. Social media is now becoming more popular amongst businesses. Facebook and

Twitter have been common place for businesses to represent themselves, communicate and

advertise to their “friends” and customers. Although these webpages have some benefit, the

content and tools available on sites like these are not directed towards small business owners.

Social media networks are now being created and used specifically for the use of small

businesses to connect, collaborate and interact.

Although these webpages provide advertisement for their products and services just like a

business webpage or other social media site would offer, the purpose of the membership to these

webpages is not oriented for communication with future customers or guests. Instead these

websites are designed to help small business owners utilize other small business owner’s

knowledge and skills to help increase their success. Small companies do not have the work

power and availability of resources that large businesses do. In order for these small businesses

to compete, they must collaborate their ideas and work together to help one another develop

through the use of these social media resources. A few of the most common social media sites

designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs include Manta.com, Focus.com, Neudesic.com

and Partnerup.com. The access and use of these websites are very simple. Any online browser

can go to these pages and look up companies and businesses on the interest using a search engine

with many features. In order to utilize the tools and communication devices these type of sites

usually require, a membership fee with monthly charges as well as other charges for access to

different types of resources is required. Although there is a price, many users suggest that these

social media resources have allowed their companies to grow and succeed. An article states “a

recent survey conducted by Manta revealed that 42 percent of business owners get their advice

from fellow small business owners, and a large part of the Manta community conversation is

based around operating tips.”

The potential for these websites is great! Allowing small businesses to utilize other

businesses knowledge, collaborate and partner gives them greater chances to compete with large

businesses. Having the availability to use other resources bridges the gap between larger and

small businesses because it allows for more people to communicate ideas amongst each other

much like large businesses do with their own staff and employees.

I think the multitude of these social media websites directed towards small businesses

limits the ability for them to be as useful as they could. Some of the more common sites like

Manta.com, Thomas.net, and business.com have the traffic and popularization to make them

necessary purchases for small businesses. “Manta, which is home to more than 89 million small

business owners, uses social business profiles and other online communication features to help

small businesses improve their online presence and gain increased visibility with customers and

prospects.” In order for these social media outlets to function properly and be of value to

members, they need to be popular and highly used.

In order for the success of social media business webpages to succeed you need to determine

how they are shaping the small businesses working in the hospitality field. By dissecting how

social media is used, you can determine the trends needed to become successful.

Salentine/Sanderson

Social Media Better Engaging Small Hospitality Businesses

Our trend of social media networks directed towards small businesses communication is

becoming more common. Some of the webpages that we chose to evaluate include Manta.com,

Neudesic.com, Parnterup.com, Thomas.net and Focus.com. These social media webpages are

beneficial to small hospitality businesses in two ways. They are designed for small businesses

and provide tools and resources for users to communicate, collaborate and use one another’s

feedback to help grow their business. A lot of the information discussed on these sites relates to

making social media a more opportunistic way to interact with customers and future customers.

This leads into the second way that these webpages are shaping hospitality marketing. With

these webpages, they are becoming more effectively sound at delivering the social media

environment that guests and customers are looking for.

In the recent decade, internet advertisement is becoming increasingly more important for

businesses to be successful. In order for smaller businesses to compete, they need to be able to

advertise their products and services more effectively. An article from L.A times states, “90

percent of small-business owners are networking online.” The power of social media has

evolved into a business opportunity for many but needs to be utilized correctly. Manta.com

“surveyed 600 small business owners nationwide and found that 78 percent say that using social-

networking platforms is just as important as networking in person—if not more so.” Manta’s

main focus is to allow the business community to connect, partner and further develop. An

article states, “a recent survey conducted by Manta revealed that 42 percent of business owners

get their advice from fellow small business owners, and a large part of the Manta community

conversation is based around operating tips.” The accessibility and ease for small companies and

businesses to communicate and network in social network settings like Manta encourages their

ability to compete with larger businesses.

The other aspect of our trends focuses on the power social media can have on small

hospitality businesses. Learning how to properly display information and utilize social media is

a necessity. In order for small businesses to compete, they need to be able to advertise their

products and services using the same resources large businesses use. Customers in demand of

products and services are using internet more and more to decide, define and confirm their

purchase decisions. Manta.com and Thomas.net are allowing customers to view these smaller

businesses by providing webpages with these companies in mind. Allowing these companies to

get exposure via Manta and other websites, gives viewers the opportunity to look into small

business ventures more easily. It is very valuable for creating a stronger internet exposure and

presence. Manta is great because it allows companies to advertise their content via their website

and provides links and resources to document their purpose, availability and ratings. Thomas.net

also does a great job promoting deals, posting and emailing newsletters and posting ratings and

testimonials. This type of resource is often most valuable for companies who do not have access

or an opportunity to develop websites of their own. These websites ultimately serve as a starting

Salentine/Sanderson

point for businesses to develop and gain exposure so they are given an opportunity to succeed

and compete in the internet and social media field.

Speaking with a small business owner in the hospitality field helps better understand the

possibility and opportunity this trend may have. Understanding what small business owners are

looking for in social media is helpful in determining changes that need to be made for this trend

to succeed.

Combining Together For A More Recognizable Future

We recently spoke with a bar and restaurant owner. We discussed various social media

resources and the importance it has in relation to customer relationships and business success.

They were very familiar with Twitter and Facebook. They use both of these resources to help

promote and display their business. They were unfamiliar with webpages like Manta.com,

Thomas.net, and Hoover.com. We explained these social networks were oriented towards all

types of small businesses to display rating, post blogs and locations. We then further explained

that the main goal of these spaces was to provide a designated area for businesses to share ideas,

collaborate and improve small business success. The interest in these types of social media

networks was apparent but the desire to pay for these types of services and ability to utilize these

services properly was in question. The business owner explained that he is already a successful

business owner and collaborates with other Mexican restaurant owners in southern Minnesota

that share the same name. They encourage customers and guests to seek these other destinations

to eat when traveling. His main concern in relation to collaboration and sharing tips was taking

away any business opportunities from themselves. He did not seem to relate the spectrum and

size of these webpages and the amount of users who were members of Manta.com. We

continued to describe that Manta had millions of small business owners contributing to the page.

If the information was worthy and credible, he would enjoy partaking in the endeavors but his

aptitude for social media and technology was of little interest. Instead he considered these social

media pages would be more suitable for vacation and tourism destinations. They have a larger

more versatile customer base and are often unknown by those visiting the destination.

Information from other small businesses in the same situation could offer deals and communicate

with other tourist destination businesses to understand what helped them succeed and develop

business success.

We also spoke to the small business owner about more effectively utilizing any type of

social media. The majority of his page is used to advertise menus, show pictures of specials,

inform customers of deals, and wish people good holidays. The structure of how social media

pages are delivered is important in creating revenue and small businesses have very different

ways of doing so. An article from boston.com states “25% of small businesses surveyed said

they use social media in a structured way (that's a low percentage), while 20 percent use social

media in an informal way. (also a low percentage).” If small businesses can learn to

appropriately display their information in areas where customers and future customers are

looking for it, this gives them the heads up. Basically companies are improperly using many of

these webpages to display and advertise information. The use of these sites is designed to

communicate with customers and guests, not to advertise.

Salentine/Sanderson

These types of sites are continuing to be launched. In order to stay ahead of competition

they need to collaborate together. Each site has different tools and functions available and

continuously being improved for user benefits. By improving the ability of these sites and

making them more popular and recognized by small businesses will positively affect networking

and promote small business communication. The more small businesses can communicate and

collaborate with other businesses the more they can develop their business success and ability to

compete with businesses that have more resources. Expanding resources allow small companies

to operate more like large businesses do.

The trend of social media designed for small businesses will have impacts on the business

landscape. The more small business organizations that choose to collaborate the larger

advantage they have to compete with large hospitality businesses. Right now there are currently

overwhelming amounts of social media sites and applications that all provide many different

purposes and uses. Defining the use of these types of social media webpages and utilizing them

properly will release some of the traffic of these many social media oriented webpages not used

for their purpose.

In order for this trend to continue its progression and become more successful these

social media webpages will need to collaborate with one another in order to create an ultimate

site used by the vast majority of small business owners. Once there is a webpage recognized as a

Facebook or LinkedIn for small businesses it will be seen as more valuable and reliable.

Manta.com is currently the primary social media resource for small businesses but there are

many competitors and new sites developing competing with its purpose. If some of the

functionalities of Thomas.net were available on Manta.com as well it would create a more

empowering site for small businesses to utilize. Basically I think the design of the social media

network needs to be structured more simplistically. If this type of social media resource was at

no cost it would also increase the popularity of its use.

Salentine/Sanderson

Sources

http://www.boston.com/business/specials/small_business_blog/2012/09/small_businesse_

flirt_with_social_media.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-small-biz-survey-

20120912,0,6925065.story

http://www.ecnext.com/ecnext/Successes-MantaLeadGen.html

http://www.nfib.com/business-resources/business-resources-item?cmsid=55196Ed

www.manta.com

Gonzalez, co-owner El Tequila Northfield MNSocial Media Designed

For Small Businesses