Technology
From Attention to Trust: What Social Media Can Do for a Small Business
Years ago, I would see the biggest companies on television, in newspapers and on giant billboards. They had everybody’s attention because they could afford to buy it.
Meanwhile, small businesses like Pamtech were doing good work, but only a few people knew us. We supplied quality products, stayed available to customers and offered flexible payment plans. We even helped clients think through business problems. But we could not afford to announce ourselves to the whole country.
That was painful. You can be very good at what you do and still struggle if the people who need you do not know you exist.
Then social media opened a door. A mechanic in Owerri could speak to someone in Abuja. A trader in Aba could show her products to customers in London. The size of your advertising budget no longer had to decide how far your story could travel.
At first, the goal seemed to be attention. Then came engagement: likes, comments, shares, questions and messages. But a person can watch your video, laugh, comment and still never buy from you.
The goal is trust.
Look at the conversation around the Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO. People are discussing it across social media, asking questions and learning about an opportunity they might once have encountered only through newspapers, television, banks or stockbrokers. Social media did not build the refinery, but it gives people more ways to encounter and discuss its story.
The biggest companies are active in the same space many small business owners still treat only as a playground.
Make you dey play. You use your WhatsApp status for football arguments, Facebook for political fights and Instagram to watch other people build their brands. Meanwhile, your own business sits quietly in your shop, waiting for customers to discover it by miracle.
My brother, visibility is now part of the work.
At Pamtech, social media is more than a place to post adverts. We show the work. We document damaged vehicles before repairs and explain the faults we find. We share arrivals of engines and cars, customer experiences, our Monday morning routine, our people, our construction sites and even some of our struggles.
People are seeing Pamtech, but they are also learning from us.
When people learn from you repeatedly, they begin to remember you. They understand how you think. They see evidence that you know your work. Slowly, attention becomes trust.
When people learn from you repeatedly, they begin to remember you. They understand how you think. They see evidence that you know your work. Slowly, attention becomes trust.
That is why you should post to be useful. Teach someone how to avoid an expensive mistake. Show them what to check before buying. Explain the problem your product solves.
Give people something they can use today, even if they are not ready to buy.
Give people something they can use today, even if they are not ready to buy.
A useful post may stay in someone’s mind for months.
Then one day, their car develops the exact fault you explained. They remember you. That is how marketing becomes memory, and memory can become business.
Then one day, their car develops the exact fault you explained. They remember you. That is how marketing becomes memory, and memory can become business.
If you own a business, start with these three things:
- Treat your social media page like a branch office. Make it clear what you do, who you help and how people can reach you.
- Document solutions, not only products. Show the problem you solve and the care you put into solving it.
- Show up consistently. Trust grows when people keep seeing useful evidence of your work.
The old game was to spend enough to get attention. Then businesses chased likes and comments. Today, the greater opportunity is to be so useful and consistent that people begin to trust you before they meet you.
Your business may still be small. Your office may be one room, and your team may have only three people. But your story can reach places your legs have never been.
No play with your social media, ooh. Show people what you do, teach them what you know and give them a reason to remember you.
NC
About the Author
Engr. Ndubuisi Chidomere, MNSE is a Nigerian engineer-turned-entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Pamtech Group, a diversified conglomerate operating in automotive, oil & gas, media, and innovation sectors. He is a Forbes Business Council Member and thought leader on African entrepreneurship.
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