May was National Small Business Month — a time to lift the voices of America’s small businesses, the backbone of our economy. As an instrumental duo based in Upshur County, we are grateful to be a part of West Virginia’s thriving small-business community. To ensure that our local businesses can compete on a national scale, however, we must preserve access to digital tools that help level the playing field for small business owners.
Our small-business journey began in 2016, when we first met and performed live together at a small coffee shop in Buckhannon. We soon recognized a gap in music education in West Virginia schools, because of the high costs of running a music program, and decided to do our part to fill that need.
We have since stepped in to share our gifts with these students and connect them with art. Our mission — to invite as many students as possible into the world of music — has been incredibly enriching.
Over the past eight years, we have been able to share our passion for music and its healing power with countless people — including folks in senior living and students at primary schools and the Governor’s Mansion. These opportunities would not have been possible without the support of our community and the power of social media.
As a small business, we rely heavily on word of mouth to spread the word about our duo, Key to Adam. That’s why free services, like Meta and X’s business tools, are so important to help us grow our brand and bring music into schools free of charge.
The most important tool for us is personalized advertising, which allows us to quickly identify potential customers and deliver ads at a very low cost. Unfortunately, this effective tool we rely on could be taken away by the American Privacy Rights Act, introduced in the U.S. Congress. If this bill passes, our business will be devastated.
Unlike traditional advertising methods that often require a hefty budget, which small businesses do not have, platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer free or low-cost options for reaching a targeted audience. Through strategic content creation and targeted ads, we’re able to effectively promote our duo to groups that potentially would like to bring us into their school, senior living community or event.
Social media analytics tools help us gain valuable data about our audience demographics, preferences and behavior. For example, we know our target demographic of kids and people age 50 and older will be best reached through Facebook.
Additionally, since we began our traveling tours nearly a decade ago, we have been able to exponentially expand our reach, to the credit of social media and utilizing targeted advertising. This form of advertising has helped us reach new schools and teachers who want to help spread the word about the need for music in schools.
We recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with the office of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., to share our story and discuss the importance of social media tools for small businesses — and the financial consequences APRA would have on our business.
As we expressed during our meeting, social media has opened so many doors for us by connecting us with new opportunities across the country. We are so grateful for the collaboration and partnerships that have been formed through social media, but we need our lawmakers to preserve these tools for America’s small businesses.
Without targeted advertising, we would not have the ability to travel the country, sharing our love for music and introduce a new generation to art. We ask that Congress keep small-businesses’ interests, like Key to Adam, in mind when considering APRA.
Adam Moyer and Kiara Williams live in Upshur County. Reach them at keytoadam.com.
