Social media marketing could benefit your business in so many ways. Those who dig in their heels and refuse to take the leap will find themselves seriously missing out in the future. If you’re not convinced of the benefits, consider these seven reasons why you should get an active social media profile.
Social media marketing is a level playing field
Even the smallest firm can become a big player on social media just by engaging with key people who will share your content. When a big organisation re-tweets one of your messages it will be seen by thousands of people. That’s amazing exposure for an essentially inexpensive form of advertising. You don’t need lots of money to be a success on social media; there is no need to pay big bucks for prime-time advertising spots. All you need is to deliver something that creates an emotion in the reader. It may be laughter at your ready wit, excitement at discovering new information, happiness at seeing a striking picture or anger and a desire to act in response to your call to action.
It drives traffic to your website
Social media is a great place to drive traffic to your website. People who enjoy reading your tweets are likely to click through to your website or special offer because they have learned to trust your posts. It also improves SEO for your website, meaning that people searching for businesses like yours will see your website higher up in the search results.
It leads to relationship building
Done well, social media will lead to relationship building between you and your target customers. You can read their tweets to get an insight into their thoughts on your products as well as seeing what else they are buying and sharing. If you engage, comment, ask questions and join in the conversation, people will soon begin to attach a positive personality to your brand. You can also engage with journalists who cover your industry, as well as thought leaders and non-competing businesses.
You can see what works
Unlike a traditional advertising campaign, where it is so much harder to work out whether your customers have engaged with your messages, social media allows you to see an instant response. Using insight tools, you can see how many people have clicked on your tweet or post. You can also see what other posts your customers love to share and from which websites.
Customer service
Customer service issues can be dealt with swiftly when you engage with customers online. By quickly and effectively resolving a complaint you can prevent your business from losing a valued customer. This also helps other people who read the post to see that you care about your customers and want to help.
Your competitors are using it
It’s harder to play catch up than to be in at the start. If your competitors are all over social media they are being seen by your customers and potentially winning them over.
To distribute content
There is no point in writing an incisive, brilliant blog if no-one ever sees it. Social media is like a shop window for all the exciting content on your website. This way your words will reach so many more people than if you just loaded them onto your site and forgot about them. And don’t just tweet about your blog once – consider sharing it on other social platforms to reach different audiences. You will need to think about its relevance to each audience.
