Why Your Business Needs Social Media - Online Crowd · your organic and paid marketing more...

Why Your Business NeedsSocial Media

Why Your Business Needs Social Media

Social media has profoundly changed the way we all use the internet, and that includeshow businesses interact with their customers.

In the years since platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn were rst introduced,they have evolved from an occasional distraction to the focal point of many people’sinternet browsing. Conversations and content that used to be spread across multiple sitescan all now be found in the same place: your social media newsfeed.

Businesses that ignore this transition face a harsh reality. Social media is often the rst thingpeople check when they go online, and it may even be the only thing they check on anygiven day. Without a presence on social media, your business may very well be invisible!

That’s why many businesses, such as art installation company studioSPACEnyc, have asocial- rst approach to their online presence. “If we look at the analytics of the website andhow many people view my Instagram account, we’ll see 200 a day on Instagram and 15 onmy website,” says its owner, Jacob Fisher.



Not being on social media also means you miss out on huge opportunities for advertising,customer support, boosting performance for your marketing campaigns and much more.

To help you understand why so many companies and small businesses take their socialmedia marketing strategy seriously, consider the following ve essential bene ts andcapabilities it provides below.

Everyone’s on Social Media, Giving You Opportunities forHuge Reach and Impressions

The rst thing to understand about making your business active on social media is thatyou’re hardly shouting into an empty room. Facebook alone has 2.2 billion usersworldwide, and 83% of U.S. adults under 50 have a Facebook account. Even among those65 and up, 41% are active on at least one social platform.



Su ce it to say that’s there’s huge audiences at stake! While it may take a few weeks ormonths to nd your footing, there is no shortage of potential exposure. Companies thatcreate the right type of content and form an engagement strategy can quickly amass afollowing. This can happen especially fast when you leverage your existing network offriends and customers.

Just think of it as “word of mouth” transitioning to the digital age. By being available formentions, shares and engagement on social media, you can create thousands of chances aday for new customers to discover you and existing customers to get reminded about whatmakes your business great.

Social Media Creates Effective New Advertising ChannelsExposure to your brand on social media doesn’t just have to happen by accident. Eachsocial media platform has its own set of powerful advertising tools that can be used todirectly put your business in front of its most valuable audiences. Millions of businessesrely on these tools to drive their marketing goals, which is why social media spendingnearly doubled to $31 billion from 2014 to 2016 and increased by an estimated 26% in2017.

Facebook and Instagram, for instance, have incredible audience targeting capabilities fortheir ad campaigns. Local businesses can select demographics and geographic areas thatperfectly t the qualities of their most loyal customers. A new bakery can target people intheir city or in certain neighborhoods, and it can even nd people who recentlyannounced their engagement!

These highly speci c targeting tools ensure you’re not just sending out ads to people whowon’t become customers. You also directly expose people to your business offerings withinthe same stream of content they browse every day.

Since the organic posts you create can also be “boosted” while using targeting, you canleverage paid social media to grow your reach beyond people who already like and followyour page.



The data you generate from these ads also creates valuable insights for how to make bothyour organic and paid marketing more e ective. “Paid boosting can help the organic socialteam discover what works much faster and also play into paid ad creative ideas,” explainsDepesh Mandalia of SMCommerce.

Opens a New Communication Channel for 1:1Conversations and Support

Businesses on social media can deftly juggle marketing and advertising with moremeaningful outreach to their audiences and loyal customers. Answering people’s questionsand participating in conversations can put your business top-of-mind any time they needthe services you offer.

Customers absolutely prefer that the businesses they use be available for these types ofinteractions, as well. 48% of people said they will be more likely to purchase from a brandthat directly interacts with customers and answers questions on social. 33% of people alsonow prefer to get customer support through social rather than a phone call.



Being able to wow people during these interactions pays o big, too. 71% of people whohave a positive interaction with a business over social media say they’re likely torecommend that business to their peers. And since nearly three times as many people trustpeer recommendations over ads, demonstrating how much you care via social counts for alot.

Your opportunities for engagement don’t even have to be direct, either. One video gamepublisher searched for phrases similar to “I want the new [game name] but it's tooexpensive” and saved all the users who made the comment. When the game went on sale,they reached out directly to these people, helping them sell over 70,000 copies of the game.

So get creative, listen intently, and seize every chance you have to make a good impressionthrough the highly public social platforms.

Social Ties Together Your Other Marketing Channels



The majority of businesses consider social media “essential” for marketing, beating outevery other form of advertising out there. And it’s not just because of the capabilitiesdescribed above, either. It’s really because social media tends to tie together all the otherchannels you use in a seamless way.

For example, you can:

Post content to lead people back to your website. Announce a new product, promotion, event, or free demo Share your local cable ad, or overlay a radio ad over an image slideshow. Create contests to earn email signups or email followers Gather data on the performance for certain types of content before investing heavilyin something like pamphlets, print ads, or search engine marketing

All of these activities have the e ect of increasing the return on investment for yourmarketing spending. You get to dramatically increase the exposure for your content whilecreating a pathway towards your other marketing channels and campaigns.

In this way, social media can reinforce just about everything your brand does while servingas your friendly, highly public face.

Using Social Media Marketing Ensures You Keep Pace WithYour CompetitionAll the above bene ts can make a signi cant di erence when it comes to your business’sability to earn new customers, clinch sales, and stay in touch with your most loyal repeatclients.

But, more importantly, if you’re not doing these things your competition likely will be.Ignoring the potential of social media basically leaves countless opportunities on the table— opportunities others can hungrily scoop up right from underneath your nose.



So take social media seriously, and don’t give your competition a foothold to develop moremeaningful relationships with your best customers. Form a strategy, stay vigilant forchances to engage, create outstanding content, and let social media be the sca old thatmakes your overall marketing apparatus stronger.

Ready to learn more about making social media work for your unique marketing goals?Drop us a line, and we’ll answer any questions you have and tell you how to get startedcreating some killer campaigns.


Why Your Business Needs Social Media - Online Crowd · your organic and paid marketing more...

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