The Importance of Social Media in Business.

It’s 2018 and social media is growing at warp speed. With more and more people joining social media sites and using them regularly/efficiently, the social media industry is bound to become bigger in the coming years. It’s booming like never

With such amazing growth, every business today needs to leverage proper social media channels in the best possible way. Not because it’s the “in thing”, and not because it sounds simple, but because their target audience is hanging around the popular social networks. And they’re engaging with their favorite brands and connecting with them on different levels.

By giving your business brand the social media touch, you not only generate more business but also connect with your customers better and serve them on a higher level. It actually makes your online marketing easier

Here are some more social media statistics that prove beyond doubt that your business needs to leverage sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to keep up with the competition.

*The number of social media-using adults has gone from 7% in 2005 to 69% just ten years later.

*Social media use on mobile devices is seeing a 30% growth every year.

2 million business today use Facebook advertising for promoting their products and services.

As more and more businesses successfully experiment with digital advertising, they’re realizing that taking the social media advertising route makes total sense. Here’s why:

Lower ad costs: When compared to traditional advertising methods such as print media, TV and radio advertising, social ads are not only dependable, but also cheaper. What’s more, you’re allowed to engage on various social media channels for free before scaling with paid ads. You’re free to grow on your own, at your own pace.

Targeted reach: Traditional advertising doesn’t give you the luxury to reach out to your target audience the way social media ads do. It simply doesn’t work that way. When you’re doing offline advertising, you’re taking the blind, shotgun approach where your returns are dismal even if you’re making big investments. Using social media ads you reach out to targeted prospects, increase your conversions and ultimately get a higher return on investment.

Real-time performance analysis: Knowing if your ad is working or not is integral in order to improve it. When you’re doing any type offline advertising, you’re unable to analyze the performance of your ad campaign. Which cripples massively cripples your efforts. Social media ads on the other hand allow you to constantly keep track of how well (or how bad) your ad is performing. You’re able to change your ad on the fly and instantaneously see the results.

Last but not the least, it’s important for businesses of all types to understand that social media ads are only getting bigger and smarter. Social media advertising is where the future is headed. It’s the new wave. The question is, are you a part of it?

Increasing your brand awareness via social media isn’t rocket science. Here are a few tips on how you can do so.

Find Your Audience: Before you start focusing on a particular social platform, find out whether your target audience is on it. You can do this by searching for relevant conversations about your product or industry. For example, a B2B company may find their audience on LinkedIn rather than Facebook. Don’t just assume or follow other brands.

Use Visuals: Once you know where your target audience is, it’s time to grab their attention by using eye-catching visuals with your content. Images and videos play a big role in helping you grow your brand awareness on social media channels. Because they not only increase engagement but also boost social shares.

Create Conversations: Social media is all about building conversations. If you use these social platforms for one-way communication, you’ll only grab so much attention. Instead, talk and listen. Get involved. Showcase your personality by conversing, tagging and mentioning others.

Measure Your Efforts: Don’t just aim in the dark. Use the tracking tools provided by the platforms (eg: Facebook Page Insights) along with other external tools such as URL shorteners, Google Analytics, etc. to measure your social media activity. Use the insights you gain to understand what’s working so that you can optimize your efforts and build a stronger brand with social media.

Build Authority: If you want a higher engagement rate along with better brand awareness, then work on building your authority by sharing real value. Along with borrowed content, your content you post should also have something original, as it adds to your credibility.

Remember, every single step that you take to increase brand awareness with social media will impact the overall growth of your business in the long run.

Increase Inbound Traffic

Inbound marketing is one of the most effective ways to generate targeted traffic to your website. It’s the kind of traffic that actually converts because it’s super relevant. However, if you leave you ignore the importance of social media in business, you will be limited to your inner circle of customers or the people that are already familiar with your market or brand.

By putting in more effort in social media promotion, you create a whole new channel to draw in laser targeted inbound traffic and get more inbound links.

# Improve Search Engine Optimization

Every seasoned social media marketer knows that there is some connection between social media and search engine optimization. While Google has clearly stated that it does take “social signals” into consideration when ranking a page, there’s more to it.

Here’s how understanding the importance of social media in business and working on it can help improve your SEO.

Higher Chances to be Found via Web Search According to Matt Cutts, the former spam head of Google, social shares have no impact on your website’s ranking. But, it’s a fact that social media properties do dominate the front of the search engine result pages for brand names. Which means, social media profiles indeed have the power to rank in the top 10 results. Social media profiles are a great way to connect to your prospects and customers. They work as a doorway to your business website because they show your human side. They not only inform the searcher about your business, but also help them Ability to Reach More People Via Social Media SearchPeople are no longer dependent on Google search when they need to connect to something or someone. Today, search is not limited to the mighty web search engines. It has moved beyond, which is why social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are the new search engines.

Increase Conversion Rates

Social media is great for capturing targeted leads for your business, but it doesn’t stop there. Getting quality leads is only one part of the equation. The other part is converting those into sales.

 Satisfy Your Customers

Losing a customer is hard, and gaining a new one is harder. But retaining an existing customer is 10 times easier. Which is why customer satisfaction should be your topmost priority.

By using social media to connect with your customers, you have the opportunity monitor what they want, the problems they’re facing and how you could serve them.

Increasing customer satisfaction with social media includes:

1-Monitoring conversations to see if your customers are talking about your brand and in what context.

2-Broadcasting important messages, announcements and offers to customers via a social media platform such as Twitter.

3-Offering prompt customer service to customers who are facing genuine problems or need some help with the product or service.

Holding regular question & answer sessions with customers to understand their concerns, get real feedback and see how things can be improved.

Connect and build a relationship with power users or customer advocates so that they can help serve other customers.

Enhance Brand Loyalty

A lot of businesses are stuck on their follower count, which is nothing but a vanity number. It doesn’t serve a real purpose if the followers aren’t loyal to your brand. There’s a difference between a random follower and loyal one, because the latter adds real value.

If you want to get the most out of your social media marketing efforts, it’s crucial that you focus on increasing brand loyalty. Having a loyal following means better engagement and better conversations.

you can enhance brand loyalty on social media by:

Having a Solid Social Media Strategy Social media platforms are evolving, and each has its own personality. Facebook is not Twitter, and Twitter is definitely not LinkedIn. Which means, you can’t take the same old, outdated marketing and advertising methods and apply them to social media. You need to formulate a social media strategy that clearly aligns your goals with other areas such as content marketing, search engine optimization, etc

Sharing Value-Oriented Content There’s a reason why your followers are loyal to you. They’re looking for value, which you will have to deliver at all times by sharing quality content. For example, sharing a detailed case study is much better than a 500 word article

Being Consistent Your brand has a personality, and certain aspects that are unique to it. By identifying these personality traits and by bringing them out, it gets easier to connect to your target audience.

Responding to Queries You may not be a celebrity for your social media followers, but they do look up to you for answers. So when they approach you with a relevant query, you should get back to them with the right answers

Show the Human Side

While it’s okay to automate your social media posting with a tool like Buffer, it’s not-so-okay to keep doing it. Personally interacting with other people and humanizing your brand will go a long way. It will keep your followers/fans keeping coming back for more.