Social media is transforming society, connecting people from all over the globe and changing the ways in which we interact and communicate with others. It is also creating a closer connection between consumers and businesses, providing customers with more transparency about the companies they support and presenting both small and large businesses with new opportunities to grow.
With 3.78 billion worldwide social media users in 2021, it is more important than ever for your business to have a social media presence. Otherwise, you are missing out on valuable marketing and brand building opportunities. Below, we will dive into detail about six reasons why your business needs to use social media.
1. Connect With Your Customers
Customer connection is pivotal to your business’s success, as it improves brand loyalty and increases your customer lifetime value. In fact, 64% of consumers want brands to connect with them, and 57% will increase their spending with a brand they feel connected to.
Social media is the number one channel for brands to easily connect with their customers. Social platforms make it simple to respond to comments and direct messages, as well as provide consumers with a behind-the-scenes look at your company’s operations and values. By responding to customers publicly in your comment section, you will not only be answering their inquiries, but you will also be signaling to your audience as a whole that you care about what they have to say.
2. Boost Your SEO
Businesses often devote lots of time and money towards improving their rankings in the search engines to increase their organic traffic. One of the simplest ways to improve your SEO, however, is by having a social media presence.
Google looks at a company’s social media channels when determining where to rank them on its search engine results pages (SERPs), and social media profiles themselves are usually one of the top results when consumers search for a company by name.
One social media metric that Google factors into its search rankings is your follower count, making it even more important to prioritize growing your social presence.
3. Content Sharing Opportunities on Social Sites
One of the most beneficial aspects of social sites is that it’s easy for users to share content they encounter. If you write a blog post or share a photo that resonates, your followers can share it to their feed or send it to their friends with the click of a button, which will help grow your audience.
You can also use social media to encourage user-generated content (UGC), which you can then share to your profile to improve your credibility. UGC often resonates more strongly with consumers than traditional marketing strategies. In fact, 60% of consumers believe UGC is the most authentic form of content, and 79% of consumers state that UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions.
4. Gain Customer Insights
Most social media platforms have integrated follower insights for business profiles, which allow you to easily learn more about your followers, including their age, location, gender, most active time of day, and more. These insights are completely free, and you can use them to more effectively target consumers.
5. Keep Track of Competition
Your competitors are most likely using social media to target the same audience, and by staying active on these platforms, you can easily keep track of their marketing efforts, product launches and more. This not only keeps you up to date on your specific industry, but it allows you to improve upon your competitors’ strategies.
6. Social Media Drives Sales
Building your social media presence will increase your brand awareness, drive more direct traffic to your website, and ultimately result in more sales. Consumers are increasingly using social sites to shop; 90% of people buy from brands they follow on social media, and platforms such as Instagram even allow users to shop directly from a business’s profile without navigating to an external site. It’s important to be active where your customers are shopping, and neglecting your social presence is essentially leaving money on the table.
Build Your Social Media Presence Today
There’s no better way to connect with your customers and promote your brand than through social media, and with nearly half of the global population active on these platforms, social media marketing is no longer just a useful strategy – it is an absolute essential.
Cider House Media can help you build your social media presence, grow your brand and get in front of your target customer. Leave the work to us, so you can focus on other elements of your business.