The Social Media flow on effect
Social Media dramatically serves to strengthen your Small Business’s branding by increasing your visibility for both existing customers and potential prospects. In the current digital climate, customers expect that all businesses should be easily accessible and recognizable Online, and Social Media allows for exactly this.
Then, if someone has a positive experience with your Business, either simply because they love the look of your products, or they’ve purchased from you, chances are they’ll share your content on their own Social Media accounts. This will generate a ‘ripple effect’ or sorts, with all of their friends and followers able to see this shared content: your Business’s content. From here, who knows how many people will be newly exposed to your Business! And that’s the beauty of Social Media!
Social Media Improves Customer Service
Today’s consumers will naturally gravitate to Social Media to seek assistance, ask questions or provide feedback to a brand’s customer service team. You don’t want to miss out on those important conversations, as they can benefit you and your Business in the long run.
Audience feedback can best guide you when it comes to creating a new product, rolling out a new service to the market or holding a special promotional Campaign. These exchanges can also prove invaluable when resolving any issues, questions or problems which may arise, allowing you to quickly nip any resentful feelings from customers in the bud!
All the big companies from Apple to FedEx have a Social Media profile setup that’s inundated with customer feedback every single day. This kind of presence constantly allows these Businesses to improve their services and product offerings, and will continue to do so over time. There’s no reason why your Small Business won’t benefit in exactly the same way!
Social Media Increases Website Traffic
As mentioned earlier, Social Media is a cost-effective strategy to drive instant traffic to your website, which is one of the main goals of Social Media Marketing. The more traffic you can generate from Social Media, the better chance your Small Business has of converting visitors into paying customers.
Social Media Boosts SEO
Many Search Engines, such as Google, consider a company’s Social Media presence as a factor in determining where that business will rank on the search results page. This is just another reason why Social Media can be so beneficial for your Business, as it will get you noticed by more people searching for your products and services.
Google will use these factors as a source of information to determine your credibility, authority and, essentially, worth, as a Business. Remember, Google wants to provide its searchers with the very best possible search results, so if you appear to be a popular, well established Business with multiple quality Digital Platforms (e.g. a Website, Facebook page, Instagram account) you’ll likely be ranked highly.
The Numbers Certainly Back It Up
Recent 2016-17 studies by two well-known Australian and American Marketing agencies, found that 97% of customers now depend on digital content to research products or services in their area. This means that if you’re not on Social Media, you’re missing your chance to appeal to a HUGE portion of your target audience.
It’s also worth noting that 89% of Small Businesses surveyed, currently have a Facebook page, while 24 percent have Twitter and 22 percent are on LinkedIn. With such a large portion of your competitors embracing Social Media, you’d be greatly amiss not to be on there too!
As you can see, as a Small Business Owner, jumping onboard with Social Media will be hugely beneficial for your Business Success! It will help to grow your audience, strengthen your branding, improve your customer service experience and stop you from falling behind your competitors.
