When it comes to using social media for your business, it can be easily overlooked. Businesses don’t seem to understand the full capabilities of some of the world’s most used social platforms. With over 3.2bn users on social media and counting, how hard can it be to start your conversation? Social media platforms are developing every day and coming up with new tools for us to utilise. Social media can become your all-in-one hub for your business and here’s how:

Brand Awareness

We’ve talked about it a lot, but we can’t stress how important social media can be to help increase brand awareness. Users are now more likely than ever to search a company up on social media before they make their first interaction. This helps them get a feel of the brand persona. So, you’re first impressions better be good. Social media provides you with a free to use platform where you can reach over 42% of the world’s population. Get your name out there and give users a taste of what they can expect when collaborating with your brand.

Customer Feedback

When we talk about social media becoming your all-in-one hub, we actually mean it. Social media is now becoming one of the main locations that users go on to read reviews about a business. Many platforms offer users the chance to give businesses reviews and feedback through conversations. If a customer has some constructive criticism for your business, they are able to leave what’s on their mind and you will be able to reply to them with ease and deal with customer feedback.

A conversation with your customer will be quicker on a social media platform, than if you were communicating through email, the good old fashioned way. If customers loved their last encounter with your business, they’ll be able to do the same and leave feedback on their experience which others will be able to see. Sites like Facebook also offer an actual rating and reviewing system.

Company updates

You own a local restaurant and you’ve had an emergency crisis today, you’re gonna need someone to come and have a look at your kitchen. This means, unfortunately, you’re gonna be closed today. You want to tell your customers about this. But you don’t have 1,000 owls at your service with notes attached, ready to fly to local homes and tell them the bad news. If only there was another way….

Businesses who are using social media for company updates like the above are ahead of the curve. Customers love social media active businesses, whether it is for mouth-watering photography, funny jokes or promotions. Giving company updates means you’ve saved your customers a trip to your restaurant only to see it’s closed and ruin their whole day. Customers respect that and will be happy they didn’t have an hour of their day gone to waste. Users tend to spend on average 2 and a half hours on social media every day, this equals plenty of time scrolling through their feeds, whether it be on Twitter, Instagram or anything else. So they’ll definitely run into your businesses posts at one time or another.

Reservations/Bookings

Businesses can make reservations through social media and direct messages. This helps users with that flexibility of having multiple ways to contact a business. Even if they don’t use the multiple channels, they will be happy they have the options.

Source: www.oberlo.com

Traffic to site

Social media offers businesses free traffic to their website if used correctly. Businesses who are not on social media have to rely on one or two gateways for organic traffic, whereas an active business on numerous social media platforms has several gateways for traffic. An organic search for your company’s name will also reveal more and more links related to your business. For example, a quick search for “Ronnie’s Motors” will reveal:

• Homepage
• Facebook Page
• Twitter Page
• Instagram Page
• LinkedIn Page
• And so on…

Can you see how many of the links point to a website or page owned by Ronnie’s Motors? This is what we mean by having more footfall in your organic traffic.

Advertising

Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer great advertising tools, where you can reach millions of users with a click of a button. Providing them with the content of your choice and also pointing them in whatever direction you wish, whether it be a landing page or a download, etc. Advertising on the internet tends to be cheaper than old fashioned billboard advertising and also has a way greater reach, you’re not restricted to drivers using that one road for example. Targeting tools also help you narrow down who sees your ads, allowing you to tailor costs to fit your needs.

Email/Newsletter

Businesses can now get emails of users to help with their email marketing campaigns, by creating buttons or mini pages to links for users to sign up to their newsletters, etc. This is another great gateway for businesses to have, giving them another portal to expand their email marketing rather than just their website. 

Need more information on social media and how it can be a great addition for any business, contact us today.