Social media has the world abuzz. Whether it’s Twitter being superimposed on a television show or Facebook being mentioned on the late night news, it’s everywhere. This phenomenon is not lost on the business world as companies both large and small are jumping on the social bandwagon.

For large brands the move is a no-brainer but for the small business owner there are a lot of questions that need to be answered before making the jump. Some of the more common include: Will this work for me, how much time should I devote to it and what sites should I participate in?

The answer to all three of these questions can be attained by simply listening to the conversation and evaluating the opportunity. What platforms are your customers using?  That is where you should be using.  For example if your customer base is primarily discussing things in forums, join the conversation where it lives, or add a similar feature to your website. There is no one-size-fits-all fix, it’s simply following your customers to an outlet that they frequent.

While this explanation may offer some grey area, don’t let it scare you away from trying something new. This fear of “new” is clearly evident in a recently released Citibank survey of 500 businesses with less than 100 employees. The stat that immediately stands out from the survey is that three quarters of these respondents did not see social media as an area to acquire new business leads. Don’t shriek and turn away from your keyboard as 86 percent of respondents to this survey also noted that they have not turned to social media for advice – by reading this post you are already ahead of those 430 survey respondents.

The numbers also reflect that advertisers are sticking with things that are proven winners and are already engrained into their business. For example if you know that a direct mail piece brings in $5,000 a month and SEM campaigns net $8,000, why would you abandon them?

While mostly free,  social media is something to be used as an addition to your  marketing campaigns, not a replacement.  So the choice is really simple.  Should the risk be taken, or should I wait and see what the competition is doing?

Perhaps the best way to quantify the risk/reward of social media is to look at a small business active in the space. For that we’ll look at Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse of Northampton, Mass., who has seen success via social media.  This single-location eatery was featured on the Social Media Explorer and epitomizes the benefits of social media on a small business. Owner Justin Levy breaks down the impact he has seen from his social media efforts in an interview with the site (click here for full interview and breakdown of Levy’s methodology):

“As far as our ROI on social media efforts, of course it’s always hard to determine that. But, what I do know is that since we turned our focus to social media, attracting inbound links, more internet marketing/less print advertising, etc., we have seen an approximate 30 percent boost in sales (year to date) in a time where a lot of restaurants are down 10-20 percent. Not all of that can be attributed to our online presence but I’m sure a good portion of it can. The blog and social media outposts help us reach and interact with our community as well as show our expertise in our space. I have done some research and can’t find anyone in our area (or in general) that’s doing what we’re doing as a restaurant.”

At the end of the day, social media can be an addition to your all encompassing marketing mix or it can be something that you test and realize isn’t for you. There is no right or wrong answer just simply what’s right for your business.

Have you added social media as a marketing avenue? If so we’d love to hear your story.