The Great Business

The common belief of many small businesses is that if they market to everyone, they get greater chance of acquiring more sales. Serving to giant chunks of the market translates to unlimited market.

However, the truth is just the opposite. When you market to everyone, the only unlimited thing you will get is the number of competitors vying for the attention of your target customers. Now, succeeding in such ordeal would be extremely difficult with every other business claiming to be better than you are.

The best way to tap into your target customers is to narrow down your focus to one market niche. Consider this scenario: when you go to a car parts store, you actually go there to buy a specific car item. You may browse for a while, but will not actually buy anything you have no immediate need for. Now let us say there is a pet store next to the car parts store. Although you might sneak a peek at the store, you will probably not buy anything. The same thing would happen if you need to buy a new lovebird. You might browse through the car parts store, but won’t actually buy anything

The scenario tells us that there are two different customers shopping in each store: one that has an immediate car need, and one that needs a new pet. Each customer is different, so if you keep marketing to both customers, you are only going to exhaust yourself and your budget.

Social commerce is a term that applies to the interactions between business people that get the job done without relying on formal channels of communication. Social networking is something that all business people do. Making connections and talking with prospective partners are the bread and butter of trade. Furthermore, as business has become more and more global there has been a greater need for business partners to expand their reach beyond the company next door. In a truly global marketplace, social commerce is more important than ever in securing a strong lead against competition.

Social commerce is merely talking about business. Commerce does not occur without some form of communication. A manufacturer needs to communicate to a buyer about the products that they make. Without this, merchandise will sit idly by in warehouses without ever being touched. Buyers need to communicate with sellers. The world of commerce and trade operates on good social networking skills. Being in touch with business partners means one can hammer out the details of a complicated plan. This allows for a far more streamlined way of conducting business. Social commerce functions better when relevant people are in the conversation. This allows for a relevant business interaction than many business people do not get to experience in the overly cold, impersonal and long distance business climate that prevails to this day.

Furthermore, social commerce as a technology solution is a perfect way to make real business connections. While these connections may not produce instant business success or lead to an immediate deal, they are the seeds that can grow into prosperous partnerships down the road. For example, if you have made connection with a supplier from Latin America but you are currently not in the market for their products it is important to keep connected to this person. This doesn’t have to be a continuous correspondence or anything too direct but simply have the contact information of this person handy.