The Millennial Report: Leveraging Social Media to Drum Up Business

As a millennial, possessing an intimate knowledge of social media is not only essential, it’s expected. And even though some people are still under the impression that Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are solely for posting pictures from parties or following celebrities, social media channels not only can be used to grow business by driving direct sales but also can function as a cheap and effective means of marketing.

For years small businesses have struggled to balance the responsibilities of running a profitable business and effectively selling themselves to new customers. Back in the day, a marketing team was required for this sort of work, but today all it takes to be marketing guru is a smartphone and a good idea.

I recently attended an industry conference with a marketing discussion by author and speaker David Meerman Scott, and he provided some really interesting ideas about the landscape of social media and how technology companies can market their brands just by utilizing different platforms.

In essence, Scott said the biggest barriers to success in marketing are a general fear of the technology itself and a lack of understanding of one’s audience. He said the most effective online marketeers are those who understand how to get to the heart of what customers want, which means looking past promoting the product itself and focusing on the service it provides. Scott also emphasized that companies market to their customers in real time, meaning they should utilize the topics of the day and address real-world scenarios their products can solve—a system perfectly suited to the immediate nature of social media.

And those aren’t the only things you can do to drive a successful social media campaign. As millennials we have a better and more intimate understanding of social media than any other generation, so we can and should use this knowledge to help our coworkers think outside of the box when it comes to driving business awareness and capturing new customers.

So while everyone and their brother is using Twitter and Facebook to garner attention, why not encourage your contemporaries to try a new and different means of social media, such as Pinterest or Vine? There are dozens of social media platforms out there, and only a few of them are ever really mentioned within the channel. We have the power to change that and to get people thinking differently about our products and how they can be useful additions to their businesses just by experimenting with new means of digital communication.

So the next time someone approaches you for an idea on new ways to drum up business, do what you do best as a millennial and pull out your trusty smartphone. Leverage the power you have as a mover and shaker on social media to bring attention to your business and help customers solve problems with your solutions and services—no marketing team required.

The Millennial Report is a weekly column by associate editor Michael Cusanelli, who graduated from Stony Brook University’s School of Journalism in 2012. He is an avid gamer and movie buff who spends nearly as much time concocting the perfect mix tape as he does writing. You can find him on Twitter @MCusanelliSB.