#Windows8 #Technology Fuels Better Marketing for Small Business

Microsoft announced the release of the Windows 8 preview last Thursday, giving businesses a chance to get a head start on strategy for reaching users with the new OS when the full release hits later this year.
Most of the changes arriving with Windows 8 are of course geared towards tablet users, which is smart as if anything is required to compete for the future it is mobile. The new colored tile look is certainly attractive and users ought to find it easier to simultaneously use the new upgraded apps faster or at least switch between them. The touch password feature may be neat and the layout prettier but it is perhaps the email notification on lock mode ad share bar for those using the metro view which will have the most impact for marketers, allowing email campaigns to hit with more accuracy and encouraging more content to go viral.
There has been a lot of talk going on about Facebook’s IPO but if they don’t seem to care it is because they know that even if they dodge the media it is mobile that will take them down, though both mobile and social will continue to be among the most important marketing mediums for SMEs for the foreseeable future.
Small businesses and entrepreneurs actually have a huge advantage when it comes to these two marketing channels. In addition to speed and flexibility smaller enterprises are able to have more personal presence on the web. Labor officials slammed social media policies at major companies including Target, GM and DISH Network that aimed to block or limit employee social activity this week, calling it “unlawful”.
All businesses ought to be actively enrolling their staff and contractors in their social initiatives. Why pay for fans and followers when you have thousands of connections and conduits lying around your workforce that aren’t being tapped? You may need a social media policy and you might have to provide training and incentives but the potential lead generation and branding benefits are more than worth it.