More than three billion people are active in social media networks worldwide. Social media has long been part of everyday life for the vast majority of internet users in the United States and across the globe. Check out some of these stats: the average user belongs to at least three social networks. 43% use social media to find offers for products and services, 31% to stay up to date on companies and brands, and 10% use social media to complain about companies and brands. That said, just consider the amount of exposure your business could potentially receive if you decide to use social media to grow your business. This article will take a look at some of the reasons why your business should be on social media, and how you can use it to grow.
- Increase brand awareness
Since social media platforms are used by almost half of the entire world population today, they are perfect for reaching new and targeted customers. Anyone who believes that people in social media are only interested in brands that they already know is wrong. 60% of all Instagram users state that they discover new products on the platform.
So if you want to connect with customers – and potential customers – you have to show the human side of your brand. How do you demonstrate your brand values? (Do you even have brand values at all?) How do you perceive the interests of your customers and employees? Is your product really working? A social media brand ambassador strategy can be a rewarding way to humanize your brand. Online studies have found that most social media users log into their accounts at least once a day. Many even sign in several times a day. This is all the more reason to establish your brand awareness to your target audience.
2. Increase the number of website visits
Social media posts and advertisements are equally suitable for increasing the traffic on your website. If you share useful content from your blog or website on your social media channels, you can attract many readers immediately after publication. Do not just advertise your products and services in the chat feature, but deliver real value. Make sure that your website address is included in all your social media profiles, so that every interested party can learn more about you with just one click. Even better: link via a pinned post to a landing page on your website that is relevant for the chat.
3. Generate leads
On social media, potential customers can easily (and without being too committed) show interest in your company and products. Generating leads is one of the great advantages of social media for companies. That is why many social networks offer special advertising formats for collecting leads. For example, Renault Europe worked with Facebook Lead Ads, where users who wanted to learn more about a new model could book a test drive directly via Facebook – just a few taps were enough. These ads had a much lower cost per lead than ads linked to a form on the manufacturer’s website.
4. Boost sales
No matter what you sell, social media can help. Your social media accounts are a critical part of your sales funnel – which is the process of establishing new contact with the customer. For example, a company such as https://www.eyeglasses.com, have just three retail stores across the United States, yet they are able to receive and fulfil orders from Europe, Asia and Australia. This is largely due to their active presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and even Youtube.
Therefore, it is safe to say that as your business receives increased exposure on social media networks, this will inevitably lead to a growth in sales. Additionally, the more people use social media and the more that is sold on social media, the more important social media networks become for product research and e-commerce. This is exactly why you should now align your social media marketing with your sales goals.
5. Cooperate with influencers
A significant proportion of purchase decisions are decisively influenced by word of mouth. If you can get people to talk about your product or company on social media, you will increase your brand awareness and credibility – and you are well on your way to increasing sales. Cooperation with influencers is a crucial method of promoting social media word of mouth. This group of people has many followers on social media and can also draw attention to your brand.
6. Go viral
When social media users give your posts likes, comment on them and share them, your content reaches a new audience – namely the friends and followers of the said users. Going viral is the continuation of this concept. When more and more people share your content on their networks, and these networks do the same, the content spreads over the internet and is shared thousands or even millions of times.
This distribution is particularly advantageous because all the sharing, commenting, and liking indicate an existing connection to your brand. When someone sees that their friend likes an article, they too are more willing to read this article, even if they have never heard of the company before. In a world where there is much more content than a single person can ever consume, content shared by a friend serves as a kind of preselection. Of course, going viral is not easy – but without social media, it would be almost impossible.
7. Reputation management
Once your business is active on social networks, your customers are already talking about you online – whether you respond or not. If you and your team stay on the ball, you can quickly pick up relevant social media posts about your brand to highlight positive comments and address negatives before it becomes a major problem.
Does anyone claim anything untrue about your company? Then politely and professionally clarify your version of what is happening. Did someone praise you about a service? Respond with thanks and make others aware of the kind words.
8. Interactions with customers and your target group
You can interact directly with customers and fans via social media networks, and your target group will have the unique opportunity to interact directly with your brand. In contrast to the one-sided communication offered by traditional media, social media works in both directions. If you want your customers and followers to interact with you, you must be ready to interact at all times. So stay active and respond to comments and questions about your own social media posts – in a way that is appropriate for your brand. You can also do social media monitoring to keep up to date with what is being said on social media.
9. Keep an eye on the competition
It’s always worth knowing what and how people are talking about your competitors on social media. It’s worth watching your competitors’ mentions if you find customer problems with your competitors’ products. You could then simply address these problems directly and thereby win new customers.
When Uber Canada launched a promotion that included free ice cream for a day in Vancouver, everything went terribly wrong. The ice cream delivery didn’t go as planned, people were upset and took their anger out on social media.
The Skip The Dishes social media team saw this as an opportunity and turned to the people who had complained about Uber. The complainants were offered an alternative free ice cream delivery in the form of a Skip The Dishes voucher. And all the Uber haters were new Skip The Dishes fans and new customers (because you had to create a Skip The Dishes account to get your free ice cream). Smart, don’t you think?
The bottom line is that if you don’t take advantage of social media for your business, you’re missing out on a fast, inexpensive, and extremely effective way to reach almost half the world’s population. Similarly, you are also missing out on great opportunities for business growth.