The Top 10 Ways Social Media can Benefit Your Business

 

Over the course of the last decade, social media has transformed from a simple connection tool to a worldwide marketing strategy for so many different types of businesses. If you are a business owner and do not have social media, you are truly missing out on all of the wonderful benefits that being connected to millions of people worldwide can have. Social media is no longer just a popularity contest, it has branched out from its initial “selfie culture,” and has turned into an essential part of creating and maintaining a business. Here are the top ten ways that social media can benefit your business:

1. Increase in Brand Awareness

The first and most obvious benefit is an increase in brand awareness. Nearly half of the world’s population uses social media, so it really is the best place to reach new potential target customers and clients. There is sometimes a misconception that people only connect with the brands they already know online, but this is simply not true. In a study by Facebook, it was discovered that over 60 percent of Instagram users discovered new brands on the platform. With the use of hashtags people have the opportunity to navigate online in a new way and find new brands to become interested in.

2.Increase in Website Traffic

An increase in website traffic goes hand in hand with an increase in brand awareness. If more people are discovering your brand on social media through hashtags or advertisements then it is more likely that they are going to discover your website. Participating online and sharing great content that attracts followers on social media, makes them want to connect with your company/business on another level. Make sure however, that your content on social media is not too promotional because you want your followers to relate to it. Potential customers will be able to find your website as long as you add its address to all posts and profiles.

3.Customer/Client Engagement

When you create a post on social media you are not just shouting out into the void of cyberspace, you are in direct contact with your customers and clients globally. The entire point of social media is in the name itself, to be social, and if you want to benefit from its usage you have to maintain a steady flow of interactions with your clients online. Be personal, it will humanize your brand and allow your customers to relate to it. If you are engaged on social media clients will remain loyal to your brand, and want to keep working with you.

4.Crisis Communication

Being able to interact with your customers directly, allows your business to handle major problems straight away and have your responses circulate around the globe. This type of interaction accomplishes more than a press kit or any other form of communication could. The ability to respond immediately helps you maintain a good reputation, and keeps your clients loyal. However, be careful with how you respond on social media. Make sure that you listen to your client’s complaints and not get too defensive. Customers on social media want to know that you care about them and their opinions.

5.Social Listening

Social listening is simply just staying up to date with your industry and its news. Social media helps tremendously with this because there is a constant flow of data being posted at a rapid rate. It is easy to learn information about new technology or about a competitor on social media because people are regularly updating their feed.

6.Watching the Competition

Keeping an eye on your competition’s social media is useful because you can watch their direct interactions with customers. Understanding how they communicate can help you better yourself, and possibly surpass them and gain more clients. There have been several cases where major companies were able to take customers away from their competitors through social media.  These companies noticed when their competitors failed in an interaction, and by responding immediately to those unhappy users they were able to gain valuable new customers and a new sense of brand loyalty.

7.Staying Top of Mind

You want your customers to be always thinking of you, and remembering the importance of your brand. With social media it is easy to stay at the very top of a client’s mind because you are regularly showing up on their feeds. By posting and advertising on multiple social media accounts you are serving your customers a constant reminder of the great service that your business has done for them in the past, making it more likely for them to return to you in the future.

8.Target Advertising

Advertising on social media platforms is inexpensive and allows you to reach your exact target audience. With specific options and tools online you have the ability to engage with a larger demographic that is more likely to follow your brand. Additionally, it allows you to create messages that best appeal to certain types of groups and people.

9.Retargeting

Getting people to initially look at your website, is simply not enough. The average attention span is only eight seconds, which means that the majority of people will only stay on a page for a short amount of time. If someone looks at your website and has to abandon it for some reason, it would be difficult for them to remember your company later on. Social media gives businesses the opportunity to retarget back to an audience that might have left them in the past. By constantly staying up to date with your social media you are reminding people about your company, and helping your overall growth.

10.Analytics and Research

Analytics and research is probably the most talked about feature on social media and definitely the most important. Conducting data analysis about potential clients is extremely difficult and time consuming. Figuring out geography, language, ethnicity, gender, age, and even behavior is now easier than ever because social media does it for you. With this knowledge you are able to find a target audience on and offline that will benefit your company and its expansion.

 

Let us know if you found this post useful or if there are any other ways that you find social media marketing beneficial.