Why Do Social Media For Your Business?

A large number of businesses are now using social media to engage with customers and prospects on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and LinkedIn. 

However, there are still many brands that have yet to adopt social media strategies. If your business hasn’t yet started using social media then perhaps it should. After all, social media is simply the online version of the oldest form of marketing – word of mouth. If you need more compelling reasons to get into social media then read on:

Huge user base

The social media statistics speak for themselves - 62% of adults worldwide are now using social media and according to ComScore, one in every five minutes spent on the Internet worldwide is spent on social networking sites.  Therefore, the potential to reach existing customers and prospects is high.

To get customer feedback

‘Like’, ‘comment’, ‘+1’ and ‘re-tweets’ are just some of the features on social networking sites which will quickly show you how popular your products and offers are. Social media also helps you monitor and control conversations about your business or brand and highlight your loyal customers and advocates.

To increase brand awareness

Social media is great for sharing, which makes it a valuable tool to increase brand awareness. On Facebook, friends of fans can see what they have ‘liked’, ‘commented’ on or ‘shared’ and Twitter followers can read what has been tweeted and ‘re-tweet’ it, whilst Google+ is driven by ‘shares’ and ‘+1’s. All of these will help expose your brand to new audiences.

Competitors use it

If your competitors are engaging with their customers through social media then you should be too, before they start engaging with your customers as well. Competitor social media pages can be useful to see which types of posts work well and which don’t, but it is important to differentiate your social media strategy. This will give your fans and followers something different and may also help you increase your following further.

Protect your brand name

Anyone can set up pages on social media sites using your brand name so it’s important to secure your brand before someone else does. The last thing you want is someone with negative intentions acting as the public face of your brand.

To show a personal side of your business

Social media is an excellent way to get your employees more involved with your customers by communicating on a personal level – helping them get to know the customers better. A good example of a company that interacts with its customers through social media is Cadbury, which makes chocolate versions of its top followers’ profile pictures.

Educate your customers

Add value to your brand and educate your customers by adding historic milestones to Facebook Brand Timelines. Ford has added historic company information to their Facebook Timeline which dates back as far as 1903!

SEO benefits

The more people who are talking about your brand and sharing links to your website, the more this will help SEO efforts and improve your organic ranking.  Having an online marketing strategy across multiple channels, such as SEO, PPC and social media, can produce results that are greater than the sum of the individual parts.

To increase sales and leads

Social media can be a great platform to promote new products and special offers. Competitions and special discounts are also a good way to entice people to subscribe to newsletters and promotional material.

Increase the customer lifetime value

Posting regular, interesting and relevant content on your social media pages is an effective way to subliminally stay at the front of your customers’ minds. This could increase brand loyalty and lifetime value to your business.

It’s free

Apart from the cost in man-hours to manage your social media presence, your business will only start incurring costs on social networking sites if you choose to advertise with paid ads, but having a presence on social networking sites with ‘pages’ alone is absolutely free!

If you need a hand with your company’s social media then feel free to get in touch to discuss how we can help!