Your Business Should Be On Social Media
When I started ASMM Digital 6 Years ago, most businesses needed to be on social media. Today, all businesses need to be on social media. From small mom-and-pop businesses to Fortune 500 companies, from business to consumer companies to business to business companies. If you are not on social media, you are leaving money on the table. Today we will share 10 reasons you need to be on social media.
10 Reasons Every Business Needs Social Media
1) Connect With Customers
Social media is a great way to connect with potential and current customers. We could almost write an entire article about just this aspect of social media marketing. But here's why connecting on social media matters:
People often look to social media first. If they have a question and you aren't there to answer it, they will turn to your competitor who is.
People are talking about you on social media. Shouldn't you speak back? If they are saying good things, shouldn't you thank them and share what they wrote? If they are saying bad things, don't you want to know? You can either remedy it or set the record straight.
People are looking for products and services on social media. Even when they don't know they are doing that. If your competitor is there and you aren't, they are likely to call them first.
2) Get To Know Your Customers Better
Social media platforms provide valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. It is not unusual for us to discover that a small business owner has their target audience wrong. They think they are marketing to teenagers when their real audience is adults. Getting your audience right is important.
These insights also take the guessing out of your marketing. You can see exactly which types of posts your customers like. We recently had a client who thought that videos were important to their customers. It turns out that the videos did very poorly but their blog posts were going gangbusters.
3) More Control Over Your Brand
Social media can help businesses create and cultivate a positive brand image and reputation. When you have a strong social media strategy, you can cultivate exactly what you want customers to think of your brand. Consider Starbucks. Yes, they are a big corporation, but when you look at their marketing, they spend a lot of time talking about their employees and how well they are treated. That's a purposeful strategy to develop a brand that brings in their community.
4) Drive Website Traffic
Just because you have a beautiful website with great content, doesn't mean people will find it. Use social media to drive website traffic and lead to increased sales and conversions. We do this with blogs in particular. Creating informative blogs that attract attention on social media, helps you send customers straight to your website. And if you have a user-friendly website, it could keep them there as well.
5) Identify Influencers, Partners, & Industry Leaders
Social media can be used to build relationships with influencers, partners, and other industry leaders.
Too often we look at influencers who have millions of followers when what we really need are the micro-influencers in our own community. Social media will help you identify your super fans, see how much the community respects their opinion, and approach them to be an influencer for your business.
6) Opportunity For Better Customer Service
Social media can be an effective platform for customer service and support. Over the past couple of years, we have noticed a trend with customers across all industries. They want to speak to the business and they will often do this through the messenger feature on social media.
The most common communication after general questions like when do you open, is to tell you something went wrong when they came in. They often do this prior to leaving a bad review. If you are able to respond to them, then you may be able to turn them from an angry customer into a satisfied one!
7) Lead Generation
Social media can be used to generate leads and sales opportunities. We don't encourage businesses to use social media simply as a lead generator. When they do, they usually find that customers are turned off and don't become super fans. But if you create a strong strategy, lead generation can be a powerful part of it. If you need help with this strategy, please contact us directly.
8) Promote Products
Social media can help businesses promote their products, services, and events. We have a formula that we use for social media posting. Fifty percent of our posts are meant to capture attention. We want to get people to stop scrolling and start paying attention to us. Thirty percent should encourage people to connect with you. This is where we ask them questions, wish them a “Happy Margarita Monday” or thank them for the success of a recent event. Then and only then, do we work on the last 20% which is conversion. We promote our products or services and offer them the opportunity to buy.
9) Improve Your SEO
Social media can be an effective platform for SEO. Small businesses often have a hard time competing with big businesses for attention online. But social media gives you the opportunity to shine. Even if they never find your website, they will find you on social media.
10) It's Cost-Effective
Social media is a cost-effective way to reach a large audience of potential and current customers. It evens the playing field for new and smaller businesses!