The Benefits of Social Media for Business
What is Social Media?
To simply put it, social media is a digital tool allowing you to create and share any content you want online with the public. There are many different social media platforms now available, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tik Tok,Twitter and more, and I’m sure there are more to be developed in the future.
The craze of social media firstly began with the younger generation using it for personal activity, such as sharing pictures of themselves, their pets, food and days out with family and friends. However, many have adopted the platforms to share information in the form of news or articles, leading to businesses finally using it to promote their products and services.
Although this is true, there are plenty of businesses out there that remain sceptical about using social media as part of their marketing strategy, due to the stereotype of it being a socialising tool for the youngsters. It may be that Millennials are more active on social media than other generations, but many belonging to Generation X have discovered its potential too.
Over time, social media platforms have made it easier for businesses to utilise these channels for marketing purposes. For example, as well as having a private profile on platforms such as Facebook or LinkedIn, you are able to create a page, purely dedicated to your business, which can be accessed by the wider public. Here you can share anything business or industry related. More importantly, now you have a space where you can create brand awareness in real-time to a larger audience. Furthermore, you can connect with prospects and other industry leaders online, grow a community, know your audience and find leads much quicker.
The Benefits of Social Media for Business
There are so many benefits for businesses who use social media to communicate their business offerings. These include:
Faster and easier communication
Rather than waiting for a response via emails or being held on a call to customer service, people can get in touch with brands directly through social media platforms. This provides them with a quicker response time. Furthermore, you can build good relationships with your customers by being able to connect with them online and discover their interests.
Boost of visibility
Social media networks are a great space to grow visibility for your brand through the ‘like’ and ‘shares’ your content will receive from viewers. The more engagement your posts receive, as well as your content being shared with others, the more visibility your business will gain. Not to mention, there’s a chance your content could go viral if it receives enough views and engagement.
In addition highly visible and engaging content on social media, could be ranked highly on search engines, such as google.
Customer Feedback
Social media platforms also allow for your customers to leave reviews on your page, which becomes handy for new page visitors in making a decision on purchasing your products or service.
However, not every review is a positive review, but with a real-time tool you can quickly turn the negative into a positive by responding and providing a solution.
Impressing your audience
By sharing useful content that provides people with a solution, you can let them know that you are on top of your game and the ‘go to person’ within your industry. Content that gains your audience’s attention and encourages them to engage, will generate leads.
Tracking your competition
Another value that social media adds to your marketing strategy, is the ability to find and follow your competition. Doing so will mean that you can keep an eye on what they’re doing and gather inspiration to create new content that proves to be popular for them.
Keeping on top of news and trends
Being present on social media helps you receive any news in real-time, which means you can quickly and easily share important updates with your viewers. Furthermore, you can keep track of the latest trends and be sure to implement them in your posts for more popular results.