Social Media for Rural Businesses

I was interested to read in the Eastern Daily Press Business Supplement today of a survey regarding small business use of social media which claimed only 6pc of businesses in the East describe social media as very useful in their business. I deliver a number of workshops and presentations across East Anglia outlining the business benefits of social media which are regularly over-subscribed, clearly indicating a thirst for knowledge of this evolving technology among the Norfolk small business community.

I was disappointed with the generalisations made by the survey authors - Forum of Private Business - that social media is "less likely to benefit" rural businesses such as those in farming. In my experience the online communities of Twitter, Facebook, Linked In et al are extremely powerful tools for combating rural isolation and allowing geographically disparate business people to communicate in a virtual space. My recent Twitter clients include an equestrian public relations consultant in the Kent countryside and a marketing consultant in the Pennines for example. I first heard about social media at the Women in Rural Enterprise annual conference 2 years ago and the one hour workshop was packed with women from the countryside keen to learn more about this "new" technology. At a recent Rural Business Showcase with Mark Prisk MP (organised by the same superb womens business organisation), all six of the businesswomen invited to attend were regular tweeters.

While we would all benefit from faster broadband speeds in rural areas to allow us to effectively share some of the rich social media content like video, we can effectively use many social media channels despite our poor connection speeds or weak mobile phone signal.

To achieve value from any form of marketing activity (social media included) you must enter the exercise with clear aims and objectives, plus strict rules on customer targeting and avoiding diversions. Using this approach, I have gained valuable new marketing and design clients through Twitter alone, and I know that other rural businesses could benefit by marketing in the same way.

Some excellent rural tweeters:
@breckland
@brays_cottage
@yours2share
@pennylindop
@stonemejeweller
@growingdirect
@RS_Tor
@equineman01
@moobaacluck