I love discovering new ways to grow my business, who doesn’t? The reality that as women, we juggle so much more while growing our businesses is very true, but we still cherish the moments we spend with our families more than anything else. Being resourceful enough to remain aware of new ways to improve our businesses means that we remain organized and are able to put in the work with less effort.
Although this article by Shubhankar Sengupta is a few years old, these ideas stand the test of time.
Use of social media to leverage businesses has become a new trend among women Entrepreneurs these days. In 2007 less than 4% of women owned businesses used social media for business purposes. Fast forward the picture has dramatically changed. Half of the women owned businesses were using a range of social platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc. to market and grow their businesses in 2012.What could be the reasons for this growing interest in social media by our female entrepreneurs? Let’s find some of those reasons.
1. Women appreciate relationships: Culturally, in most of the countries around the world women are more prone to consider relations as a factor for business and personal decisions. Social media emphasizes the relationship building which can be used for brand building and reputation management.
2. Social media involves Low cost marketing: Mastering Social Media allows you to have low-cost opportunities to increase your network and to grow your business. For the budget savvy gal, understanding and utilizing social media will allow you to grow your business affordably in the early stages.
How Women Use Social Media?
3. Social media is all about sharing thoughts and opinions: One thing that I have loved about being a part of the blogging community is that women seek out women. When we need something, we seek out women who have been there and have overcome in order to find the inspiration that we need. Sharing our thoughts and opinions on Social Media as women, allows us to connect with women that need to find answers and solutions.
4. Women prefer collaboration over competition: Well, maybe not all, but most of us do! I have found that there are more women in business in search of mentorship and opportunities to collaborate than anything else. We work well together, and Social Media simply works better as a tool for collaboration than a tool for competition. Retweeting, and Reposting, only serves to build great connections, while simply being stuck on your own opinions inhibits growth on platforms like Twitter.
5. Inbuilt networking capability among women: It is easier for women to join a conversation and adding new members into their network.
Top 5 Social Media Used by Women-Owned Business
There must be many other reasons why women entrepreneurs are so drawn to the social networking sites.
There may be many suggestions how to develop an online presence by Business Women, some of them are stated below:
- Create website: It is the most important step towards the online marketing of any business. First of all, people want to know you. A website introduces you to your customers. Once the customer knows you and likes you he will trust you and buy from you. So, creating a website is the most basic step.
Women And Social Media
- Constant activities on blogs, twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, open groups, chat boxes etc. Women entrepreneurs are drawn to local businesses that improve their communities and get great visibility if their business page is constantly involved in online activities. Owners of the businesses can invite group discussions in open groups on social media.They can write blogs about their business and stuff related to that.
- Plans to increase online followers: Women entrepreneurs easily get their followers because they set an example for other women as well. So if planned properly female entrepreneurs can easily increase their online fan followings. As she gains more followers and a larger online presence her business, will show up in more searches and continue to build customer base.
