'Nobody puts *Social Media* in a corner'!

Social Media may be the thief that's stolen your family's social life, the attributer to arguments at the dinner table, the poor grammar teacher that has taught us words such as #Hashtag, however really it's not so bad. Thanks to the 'likes' of Mark Zuckerberg, who once upon a time created a page that now has around 1.35 billion monthly active users, it is actually proven to be a very powerful tool for business.

Here are a few impressive social media facts ...

- 93% of marketers are using Social Media for business. (Business Insider)
- 72% of all Internet users use social media (Socially Stacked)
- 80% of users prefer to engage with brands on Facebook rather than other marketing platforms (businessZone)
- 97% of consumers search for local businesses online. (inc)
- 78% of small businesses attract new clients through social media. (Business 2 Community)

You may be thinking … "The figures are good but how do businesses use Social Media to achieve them?”

Many businesses do not realise the beauty and power of social media. Social media marketing allows you to directly engage with your target audience and measure their reactions on the fly. This is a great way to see what sort of promotional strategies work well and those that are successful have the potential to go viral.

The Facebook “Share” button and Twitter's 'Retweet' are two of the networks' most profilic marketing tools as they allow businesses to tap in to customers Facebooks through natural mechanisms rather than hard sales plugs. A well shared post will naturally increase your company's exposure and assist you in acquiring new business.

Aside from virality, Social Media also offers a new approach to customer service. Most of the Social Media sites allow you to send instant private/public messages to customers and vice versa; potentially saving you a lot of time in the long run. Equally, with staggering statistics such as 'Thirty-two percent of consumers text or socialize on a mobile device during mealtime’ (Social Media Link, 2014) ,available, if you can't beat them you might as well join them and use Social Media to help improve your customer service efficiency.

Other beneficial Social Media for business features include real-time online 'chat' mechanisms and integrated review applications such as the 'TripAdvisor App'. The latter, alongside the 'share' tools that we mentioned earlier, are sure to increase your ROI in the long-term.

Ultimately people are heavily influenced by what their friends like. As Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit says "A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.”

You may also be thinking … "That's all very well, but I don't have the time to manage and create all of these social media strategies and initatives...”

An integrated Social Media solution could be just what you're after ...
... & we at CCG can do just that, we can manage and house all of your social media marketing initatives under one roof.

"Great but my website could also do with being updated and refreshed too..."

Not a problem - we can help with that too! Many companies like their social media pages to tie in with their company website and general brand identity. We at Concept Communications could create you a brand new content-managed website and manage your social media strategy simultaneously; saving you time, energy and paperwork!

If some of the above floats your marketing boat, why not give us a call on 01279 757333 or email [email protected] today.

Have a great weekend!

The Concept Digital Team

Conceptcomms.com