Have you ever joined a pageant? If not, have you ever watched one? I’m sure you have. Apart from a contestant’s beauty and brains, people look for personality. A kind of joie de vivre which would entice the audience to vote for them and the judges to like them.

Running a small business is a lot like joining a pageant, it is first and foremost a popularity contest if you will. The more people know about you, like what you do and what you offer, the higher likelihood that they would actually do business with you. That’s one of the reasons why social media is a great place to market your brand. Being an active social media participant drives traffic. It is not enough to just create an idea hoping that people would just up and buy from you. It’s about connection, sustaining and developing it.

Social networking is fast transitioning from a fad to a necessity, at least as far as marketing goes. Small business owners are given as much opportunity to survive and thrive. At the end of the day, it’s all about brand awareness. Building brand awareness is not as easy as it sounds. It takes time and effort, not to mention money.

Supposing you have the financial resources to sustain your business, how long should it take you to get a following of regular customers to ensure your business would be in the black? What sets a successful business apart from others is that they are a part of a community. This community that they’re members of have a high regard for their business. Not because they’re a big, well-known enterprise but because they have built trust and are seen by their customers as credible businesses that’s worth recommending to their peers.

It is important to lay a strong and healthy foundation among your customers and your followers on whichever social networking platform you’re using. The conversion of followers to actual customers comes after you win them over. You can ask any guru, mentor or what-have-you and they will stress the importance of engagement.

Marketing is not just a one-time deal. It’s constantly changing as your customer base changes opinions, preferences and buying trends. You need to enhance your business’ social echo. People need to know they can depend on you. Knowing your business exists is just part of a bigger picture.

Using various social communication tools, you can win big in the business popularity contest. But it does not stop there, you should not stop there. Building a positive business reputation is the first step but the next is a bit more challenging than that. That is to keep your sterling reputation while solidifying relationships with your customers. If your customers and their referrals know that they can count on you, you might as well have won the biggest and brightest pageant in the business industry.