Did you know that 92{3eb5e81dc2dbd5243766a445dfd7203b99614852f30724c0fcd7c1e47478fab9} of marketers say social media is important for their business?
One thing’s for sure – using social media can propel your business in a very successful direction when it’s done properly. Although some people are reluctant to implement it initially, it’s important for modern businesses to never underestimate its value, for a number of reasons.
Brand exposure
Using social media exposes your brand, giving it a visual platform to be creatively promoted and expressed – as well as helping you to gain a brand personality. Not only can you reach a large audience and make them aware of your business, you can also see who’s talking or mentioning your business, giving you a chance to jump in on the conversation.
It is also a great way to capture lots of new customer interest, with statistics showing that 78{3eb5e81dc2dbd5243766a445dfd7203b99614852f30724c0fcd7c1e47478fab9} of small businesses entice new customers via social media. Around 33{3eb5e81dc2dbd5243766a445dfd7203b99614852f30724c0fcd7c1e47478fab9} of users have also said that they use social networks to explore new brands.
You can expose your brand further by directing users to your website through social media, increasing the traffic to your site. This in turn can also positively affect your search ranking, if the amount of social media shares you receive is quite high.
Understand your audience more effectively
Social media is a great opportunity to get better analytical insights (i.e. demographics, likes and dislikes, interests) into who’s engaging with your business. This will allow you to put together better creative strategies (such as leveraging more targeted content and advertising) to reach more targeted segments of people, which should lead to increased conversions.
Overall, understanding your audience and implementing better-targeted social media strategies means you won’t be wasting any of your all-important budgets. Social media still remains a low-cost way of getting a fast ROI.
Real-time feedback
Having an online social presence means your customers are able to reach out and give you feedback as to how you’re doing – which can be scary to some businesses. The beauty with this is that you can reply to them and correct any errors relatively quickly. Social media is a popular method of consumer contact, with 42{3eb5e81dc2dbd5243766a445dfd7203b99614852f30724c0fcd7c1e47478fab9} of users who use social media to contact a brand stating they want a response within an hour.
Gaining feedback through social media also widens the insight you get into what your customers are thinking/feeling about your brand; you can see how they’re using your product or service, and this ultimately gives you the chance to engage with them on a personal level.
Staying up to date
Staying digitally active and up to date with the latest trends is important to keep people enthusiastic about engaging with, and using, your business. Social media allows you to be present in the consumer ‘moment’ and understand your customers’ needs, using trends to boost your offering.
More than anything, social media is a low-cost audience research apparatus and a vital channel of communication – for your customers and your company.
