Ten years ago, we didn’t know much about social media.
Moms were desperately trying to befriend you on Facebook, and aunties were commenting on every picture you posted.
Millions of embarrassing photos and cringe-worthy posts later, we are where we are today—social media has shape-shifted into the strongest tool in the marketing arsenal of any business.
You can quote us on that.
However, if you need proof why social media is important for your business, stick with us as we explain the benefits of a well-thought-out social media marketing strategy and how to tap into those perks.
Table of Contents
- Why Social Media Is Important for Your Business: Overview
- Connect With More Customers & Build Stronger Relationships
- Reach New Markets & Generate Leads and Sales
- Establish a Positive Brand Image & Stay Relevant
- Get in Touch With Influencers & Thought Leaders
- Save on Marketing & Advertising Costs
- Increase Website Traffic
- Boost Search Engine Rankings
- Tips for Using Social Media Effectively
- Why Social Media Is Important for Your Business: Key Takeaways
Why Social Media Is Important for Your Business: Overview
The importance of social media lies in its potential.
If used right, social media can help you:
- Enable faster, seamless communication
- Make your brand more relatable
- Boost your organic visibility
- Network and partner up
- Track your competition
- Develop your brand
- Impress customers
- Bring more traffic
- Generate leads
... and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Almost 4.5 billion people use social media worldwide, while users spend an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes per day on these platforms—with numbers like these, the possibilities are virtually endless.
Just when you think social media has reached its full potential, you’ll learn there’s more than meets the eye.
These are the benefits of social media for businesses:
Connect With More Customers & Build Stronger Relationships
With the rise of mobile devices, customers can now connect with businesses 24/7.
If you want to use this window of opportunity, you can quickly reach a wide audience with little effort through social media platforms.
In the past, businesses had to rely on costly advertising campaigns to reach their target audiences. But, with the advent of social media, you now have a more affordable and effective way to connect with existing and potential customers.
What's more, social media provides an opportunity to build relationships with customers.
Previously, businesses used a one-way communication model. They would broadcast information about their products or services, and customers would either receive it or not.
However, social media has changed that dynamic. Now, businesses use social media to build two-way relationships.
By engaging with customers on a personal level, you can create a sense of loyalty and goodwill that goes beyond simple transactions.
Customers can provide feedback and connect with businesses in a way that wasn’t possible before. Companies that use social media effectively can build stronger relationships with their customers.
Additionally, social media provides a way to connect with potential customers hard to reach through traditional marketing channels.
By using social media to create engaging content and connect with customers, you can boost your bottom line and increase profitability.
Consequently, social media can be an important tool for businesses to reach new markets.
Reach New Markets & Generate Leads and Sales
Another great use of social media in business is the chance to reach new markets.
For example, you can target ads by location, age, and interests on Facebook. This means that businesses can specifically set their ads to reach people who are likely to be interested in what they have to offer.
Moreover, social media platforms (think Instagram and Pinterest) offer a visual way to promote products and services. This can be particularly effective if you’re in the business of selling physical goods or providing services that can be easily visualized.
In turn, social media platforms can be the ultimate customer retention and acquisition channels, triggering sales by extension.
As the popularity of social media continues to grow, it's clear that businesses need to find ways to leverage these powerful platforms.
Establish a Positive Brand Image & Stay Relevant
Since we live in a hyper-connected world, potential customers are constantly bombarded with messages from companies trying to convert them.
However, they are also increasingly savvy about spotting inauthentic or negative content.
That’s why it’s crucial for businesses to establish a positive brand image—the only way to do so is to focus on creating top-notch content and genuine, positive interactions with your clients through social media. This helps develop a more favorable impression of your brand and its products and/or services.
As mentioned above, social media is a great tool to connect with your customers, and, while at it, address customer concerns directly and quickly, which helps mitigate negative sentiment.
If you’re invested in staying in touch with your audience, you’ll have a unique chance to share your brand's story and values with a broader audience.
Post engaging content and encourage customers to leave reviews and watch as your trustworthiness and credibility go up.
An often overlooked but equally valuable benefit of social media is the fact that it allows you to stay up-to-date on trends and relevant topics in your industry. Follow key influencers and leaders in your field and you can get a pulse on what's happening in the marketplace.
Don’t forget to join conversations and learn from others in your industry — you’ll eventually land among the thought leaders that people can’t help but admire and follow.
Get in Touch With Influencers & Thought Leaders
As a business owner, you understand the importance of connecting with thought leaders and influencers in your industry.
Social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn offer a great way to connect with key opinion leaders. They can help promote your products or services through influencer marketing, which is yet another great example of the use of social media in business.
If you’re new to influencer marketing, you can start by making yourself known to influencers by:
- Finding influencers in your industry on Followerwonk or BuzzSumo
- Connecting with them on social media platforms
- Engaging by commenting on their blog posts or tweets or by sharing their content with your own followers
- Reaching out offline by attending industry events or sending them personal emails or messages
Your efforts will not go in vain — as a well-earned reward, you’ll build valuable connections that will turn out to be powerful advertising channels, eventually helping you grow your business.
Save on Marketing & Advertising Costs
Let’s talk facts:
- Social media is the most popular form of communication and entertainment
- Marketing and advertising are essential for attracting customers and growing your company
What do these facts have in common and how can you use them in your favor?
Marketing and advertising costs can quickly add up, eating into your profits, but social media platforms provide a cost-effective way to reach your target audience.
With a little creativity, social media can be used to effectively market a business without spending any money on advertising or marketing initiatives.
For example, many businesses use social media platforms to build relationships with customers and create loyalty programs. Others take advantage of the power of user-generated content by encouraging customers to post reviews or photos of their products.
Creating a Facebook page is free, and you can use it to post updates, special offers, and photos of your products or services. You can create targeted advertising campaigns at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods such as print or television ads.
With a little effort, social media can be a powerful tool for promoting a business on a budget.
Increase Website Traffic
In the spirit of facts, website traffic is key to success.
22% is direct traffic, while the rest of it comes from:
- Organic search (17%)
- Display ads (12%)
- Paid search (9%)
- Referral (9%)
- Social (16%)
- Email (14%)
- Other (1%)
There are many ways to increase website traffic, but social media is one of the most effective.
By sharing links to your site on social media platforms, you can reach a wide audience of potential customers and direct more people to your site.
Social media is also used to generate interest in new products or promotions.
By creating engaging posts and using relevant hashtags, you can attract attention and encourage users to visit your website to learn more.
Note that social media users are more likely to click on links that come from friends and brands they trust. This brings us back to the importance of establishing a positive brand image and building an online persona that people can trust.
If you play your cards right, social media can be a great way to increase website traffic and boost your bottom line.
Boost Search Engine Rankings
More traffic entails better search engine rankings.
Social media has become an increasingly important part of the online landscape, and businesses are taking notice.
While most companies are using social media to connect with customers and promote their products, many are also finding that it can be a useful tool for improving their search engine ranking.
When people search for businesses online, search engines use a variety of factors to determine which results to display.
One of these factors is the number of links to a given website. By actively promoting your business on social media, you can increase the number of links pointing to your website, which in turn can lead to a higher ranking in search results.
Social media also helps build relationships with other companies and websites in your industry, which could also lead to higher search engine placement.
Tips for Using Social Media Effectively
Now that you know why social media is important for your business and its benefits, it’s time to learn how to make the most out of it.
Follow these tips to see better results:
Define Your Purpose
Before you start using social media, take some time to define your purpose.
Why do you want to use social media? What are your goals?
Once you know your purpose, you can start to create content that aligns with your goals.
Know Your Audience
Knowing who’s on the other end will save you a lot of headaches.
Who are you trying to reach? What kind of content should you show them?
If you think that bad content is better than no content, think again.
Take the time to analyze and understand your audience before you start posting.
Once you have a clear picture of who your audience is and what they’d like to see, you can create content that is more likely to resonate with them.
Create Compelling Content
Now that you know your purpose and audience, it’s time to start creating content. But not just any content – compelling content. Content that is interesting, informative, and engaging. Content that will make people want to come back for more.
It’s best to have a social media content strategy set in place to always stay a step ahead of the game.
Before setting up a strategy, consider the size of your business, scope of work, audience, and any other relevant indicators of what your strategy should be like.
Small business social media strategies differ from the strategies of large corporations, so don’t try to duplicate them.
Instead, come up with a game plan that matches your company description and goals.
Be Consistent
If you want people to keep coming back, you need to be consistent with your content.
That means posting on a regular basis and keeping your social media channels updated with fresh content.
If people know they can count on you for new and exciting content, they’re much more likely to stick around.
There are a lot of social media management tools you can rely on to ensure you’re staying consistent.
Interact With Other Users
Social media is all about interaction and engagement.
If you want people to interact with your brand, you must interact with them first. Like and comment on their posts, follow them back, and join in on conversations.
This will show them that you’re interested in ” becoming friends” and you’re open to interacting, so that one day they will feel comfortable reaching out to you.
Monitor Your Progress
Keep track of your follower count, the engagement levels on your posts, and any other metrics that are important to you.
It’s the only way you can determine if your strategy is working so far and whether there’s room for some improvement.
Why Social Media Is Important for Your Business: Key Takeaways
Undeniably, the benefits of social media for businesses are unmatched.
The use of social media in business is ever on the rise and as things are going, social media marketing is likely to replace old advertising methods for good.
Whether you need to market your corporation or you want to scale your small business, social media offers an effective way to reach your goals while saving time, effort, and money.
