I interact with small business owners frequently, and when I raise the subject of social media before them their reactions generally run from mild interest to total dismissal. A majority of them view social media platforms as good for nothing for their business. Only a few think the other way round. I always find this surprising. At a time when social media is booming and some popular social media sites are growing by leaps and bounds connecting millions of people with each other every day, how can a business ignore social media adoption?

There is nothing like social media when it comes to building brand, and most importantly, it costs very little. With these platforms you can decide what you want people to know about your business and what it does, and when you do this the right way and consistently by being transparent, quick, responsive and accountable, you easily move a step forward in building a reputation for your brand. Never use social media to 'spam' your audience with the 'opportunities' your business can provide, but just become a trusted friend and build a dialogue that leads to a trusting relationship. This simple strategy can propel your brand to new heights.

The volume of people social media can reach and the pace at which it can do this is another reason why joining the social media bandwagon can make a big difference to your business. While social media, due to its ability to foster direct and informal communication, has a direct link with brand and credibility building, at the same time it can also be very powerful in helping your business increase its reach by coming in contact with new prospects, following them up, and gradually moving them to the next step in the sales process by removing the communication barriers. The same is true when it comes to your existing customers — social media can be used equally effectively to build deeper relationships with them and enhance customer loyalty.

Social media platforms can help your business in several ways — the PR team can use Facebook to make some announcements with a worldwide audience, your marketing crew can use Google+ to spread a product launch message like wildfire, the HR department may use Linkedin to pickup fresh talents for your company, and you as the owner manager may use Twitter to keep your clients engaged — and as your following increases your business gradually exposes itself to a bigger audience, which in turn may attract more website traffic, media interviews, partnerships proposals and other opportunities that can't be measured based on revenues directly generated.

I want to hear your thoughts. What tips would you offer to small and medium enterprises to stand out in the social media space?