In recent times, social media becomes a part and parcel of our day to day life. We are breathing, sleeping, eating in the world surrounded by Face book, Twitter, Instagram, et al; Apart from the main mode of communication, social media prove itself more beneficial for the business and industries. While most businesses especially the MSMEs communicate with their audience through traditional media, i.e. Newspapers, Television, Radio etc. the response time tends to become high and the interaction level is almost negligent. The communication isnt personalized which makes the audience feel less relevant. MSMEs are the backbone of Indian economy, so, it is very important for them to understand the essence of social media and globalization. A report of Hub Spot says that around 92 percent of marketing professionals says that social media plays a major role in their businesses were as 80 percent says that their inbound website traffic increased from it. An Integral Part of Digital Marketing Social Media Social media plays a vibrant part in the digital marketing space, and hence it is much important for the businesses to keep it at the top of their game. While digital marketing strategies vary business to business, lets look at how B2B and B2C are different when it comes to exploring this wide space. The Key difference between B2B and B2C digital marketing is the audience. Since B2B activities are only confined from one business to another, it is important to be aware of the communication technique. Typically, B2B customers are accustomed to being bombarded with information which is packed with the technical aspects of the product/service. While in B2C, the customers only want to know about the product or service in a more colloquial and entertaining manner. For MSMEs, to design a digital marketing strategy, it is extremely important to assess the kind of business model a company is. The communication can then be designed, and the consumers can be approached in the most impactful way which would eventually make their business boom. Digital Marketing for B2B MSMEs Creating marketing campaigns for B2B companies which are targeted to be populated on social media is quite tricky. While the traditional tactics like business branches and cold callings are still practiced, to make your brand speak for itself, social media advertising should definitely be adopted. Identifying the mediums through which you would want to communicate with your audience in the most effective way is one of the key steps in B2B marketing as your audience wont be present actively on all the platforms equally. Look at this info graphic found by Content Marketing Institute which will give you an idea of where your audience primarily lies. Lead generation for B2B businesses is the major reason why marketers choose social media to communicate about their product/service. LinkedIn is one of the major social media platforms where businesses identify their prospective customers, but that doesnt mean that other social media forums should be left at the backburner. The first goal of B2B social media marketing needs to be branding, not leads. While 89 percent of B2B marketers use LinkedIn, 88 percent and 83 percent use Face book and Twitter respectively. Surprisingly, 61 percent rely on Google+ for their marketing and the remaining is distributed between YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram. Thus, identifying and exploring as many social media channels in terms of B2B digital marketing would not only prove to be effective for marketers, but also give MSMEs an opportunity to compete with big players in the market. Digital Marketing for B2C MSMEs With limited finances, MSMEs in India fail to explore the myriad of opportunities which social media marketing offers. With focus being adoption of latest technology to grow their business, B2C MSMEs must not ignore the potential of social media. Numerous insights, growth of the competitors, better understanding of the industry, and increasing the customer base are some of the topmost benefits of creating a social media presence. Just like B2B marketing, companies in the B2C circle must not exploit other social media forums apart from Instagram and Face book. While Face book has the most relevance when it comes to communicating with consumers in the B2C business model, with the right kind of messaging, MSMEs can achieve their desired target even via other social media platforms. Here is a visual data representation of which social media platforms have performed and worked best for B2C business models: The MSME sector mainly contributes in the manufacturing output, employment and exports, aiding in the industrialization of rural and backward geographies, hence, populating their presence in the social media world could be tricky. Targeting the right audience to generate more leads and result in increased sales is extremely crucial; otherwise the social media strategies adopted by the respective business would just fall flat. Here are some of the advantages of Social Media Marketing to MSMEs: Better business visibility With the vast presence of social media around the world, there occurs a garner visibility for MSMEs. While SMEs seem to be on the back foot to fully exploiting the traditional marketing options as compared to bigger business players having deep pockets, now with the Internet age, there are means to create an impact, with social media coming in as a strong enabler for all categories of business owners. Higher rate of conversions Call to Action through social media are instantly helping the businesses stay connected with their customers daily. With personalized communication approach, businesses can convey their values, goals and benefits directly to the customer. This yields in better connectivity, consistency, and building relationships with customers. With this direct way of communication, businesses can also get instant feedback from the customers and engage with potential customers in the blink of an eye. Business networking and management of human resource Through professional networking portals like LinkedIn which primarily aims at providing employment opportunities through job citing, respective businesses can hire manpower which caters to their business needs. Eliminating the geographical constraints, businesses can scan through various profiles according to their needs. In fact, businesses can even establish a solid communication with prospective partners who would be interested to collaborate and looking for expansion. This kind of networking also provides a lost cost option for products and service marketing when there is a limitation for resources. Further, with reducing marketing costs social media marketing helps create mechanisms, such as blogs, forums, and social networks that firms use to communicate with individuals raise their private business profiles. Triggers brand authority and loyalty A well-plan and well-executed social media strategy could do wonders in building a loyal customer base for a business. Studies have also revealed that customers who follow their most-loved brand pages on social media tend to stay loyal towards them and also promote them on their personal handles which results in brand authenticity. Several potential customers are often attracted to the feedback shared by existing customers and thus it is important for a business to keep them engaged with timely activities on the social media pages.