[gav]

Local business - yes, if their customers make regular purchases

Fashion brands - yes, if it's a brand name that people are excited about sharing, and again regular purchases helps - people want to keep checking back for what's new

It's tough; I work with a lot of different retailers, everyone wants to believe that social media is going to be good for them, but it depends on both their business and their customers.

I see agencies pitch the miracles of social media and it often just doesn't pan out.

[andys627]

What are some reasons it does/doesn't work for SMBs?

[gav]

It's about who your customers are and how they would want to be associated with your brand.

For example, consider a washing machine repair service, it's somebody you are going to use infrequently (hopefully!) and even though you might give a recommendation to your friends, it's not something that you'd associate with and steer your friends towards. In fact it's not really that helpful as it's highly unlikely that they would need those service right now.

Now think of a clothing boutique. It's a brand that's "cool", you want to let people know you go there. You go frequently, you want to tell you friends that you saw X and thought it was neat, or you bought Y. You share these events and other updates with your group, you are providing useful information and showing your tastes to your friends.

I'm not sure if there's a distinct work/not-work axis, but there's definitely categories of businesses and customers that work better than others.