U.S. Congressman Fred Upton

Kalamazoo, MI, Apr 3 -

By Yvonne Zipp

Reaching customers 140 characters at a time may not come naturally for every business in Kalamazoo. Even companies with active Facebook pages can't rest on their number of likes, with sites like Pinterest growing faster than you can push a virtual pin into an online bulletin board.

While social media marketing has been the buzzword since at least 2008, smaller businesses in Southwest Michigan may not always have the time or manpower to best leverage their online presence.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, working in conjunction with Facebook and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, is hosting a Small Business Boost Wednesday morning at the Cityscape Events at the City Centre at 125 S. Kalamazoo Mall from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., as part of a nationwide, yearlong program. Congressman Fred Upton (R of Mich.) will be appearing at the event. There will be a second event in St. Joseph at the Vineland Center at 1155 Vineland Road Wednesday afternoon from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

"What a lot of people don't realize is that a big part of what the U.S. Chamber does is help small businesses succeed ... in what we see as a rapidly changing marketplace," said Nick Schaper, who handles digital strategy for the U.S. Chamber in Washington.

Of the partnership with Facebook, he said, "Social media having become such a fixture in most of our personal and increasingly our professional lives, it made sense to partner with the leader in that space."

Participants from small businesses will receive $50 in Facebook advertising credits and will also have an opportunity to speak with Facebook marketing specialists to learn how to use the social-networking site to connect with customers.

The credits are "a great way to see how it works," said Schaper, who said that Facebook advertising is "based on a bidding model, depending on how specific you would like to get and the audience you would like to reach."

For social media holdouts, Schaper said the argument in favor of embracing online marketing is simple: "That's where the people are."

Facebook, for instance, has some 800 million users worldwide, while Twitter reported having some 100 million active users as of February 2012. (The company defines an active user as someone who logs on at least once a month.)

Social media marketing works differently than ordinary advertising, Schaper said, in that the goal is "fostering and creating better connections with the customers you already have, and then they do the work for you."

Limited space is still available at both events. Registration begins at 10 a.m. in Kalamazoo and 3 p.m. in St. Joseph.

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/04/facebook_us_chamber_of_commerc.html