Social media is often thought to level the playing field for businesses, but it does not. Large corporations with significant marketing budgets have advantages over smaller businesses when establishing an online presence (Paragraph 1). While social media makes it easier for smaller businesses to connect with bigger clients, it is unrealistic to expect them to compete directly with companies that spend millions on advertising (Paragraphs 2-3). However, social media does provide opportunities for B2B companies to promote themselves to their target clients more effectively than through traditional means alone (Paragraph 4).

1. {
SOCIAL MEDIA’S
“LEVEL PLAYING
FIELD”
Written by; Jerry Nihen

2. In business, you will often hear something
along the lines of “who you know is often
better than what you know.” Knowing
connected people will benefit you in the
long run a lot better most of the time than
being the “genius in his basement” that no
one has ever heard of.

3.  As business owners and marketers continue to
grasp the effects of social media on their sales
and marketing, it’s often thought that you can
level the playing field of connecting and meeting
the right people.
 For example, If a big time business owner is set
up on Twitter, it will be a lot easier to contact him
and demonstrate your expertise and portfolio on
that platform than by cold calling – especially if
you have an “underdog” company.

4. You may have heard that the
internet has allowed for a more
level playing field for businesses.
These platforms give the “little
business” a chance to compete
with the largest corporations
because the tools (like Facebook,
Google Rankings, Twitter, etc)
are the same for everyone.
But they’re not!

5.  A corporation with a million dollar
advertising and research budget is going
to have a lot easier of a time establishing
and creating a web presence than the guy
with a thousand dollar (or even ten
thousand dollar) advertising budget
. The “big guys” in business have also had a
lot longer to establish their business offline,
which means integrating online is that much
easier.

6.  You might ask if setting up on Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn necessarily
level the playing field?
 The answer is No way! It’d be crazy to think
that. “If Steve opens up a corner grocery shop,
he’s going to have a heck of a time trying to
compete with Wal Mart—on the internet or off
the internet.”
 So especially if your competitors are high in
the Fortune 500 list, their going to have a hard
time going after the thousands (or even
millions) of small time customers that they
would need to compete in their respective
market places.

7.  However, it is a lot easier to go after the bigger fish
now than ever before. When used correctly, B2B
companies can go after their dream clients a lot easier
than ever before.
 You however have access to direct contact with some
of the biggest names in the industry (all of the
Fortune 500 companies have executives registered on
LinkedIn, for example) and stand a better chance of
impressing and setting up a meeting with your dream
client than ever before.

8. The expectation is this: if you
are B2C, and expect social
networking to allow you to
compete with someone with a
million dollar advertising
budget – then you will be
disappointed.
• However, B2B consultants, sales teams, and
more can effectively use social media to
“beat out” their large scale competition, if
they play their cards right.

9. THE END.
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23679420@N00/4846690