Social Media for Businesses

Should your small business be using social media for marketing and advertising? The answer is a big YES. Small business owners need to be using social media, mainly the big three: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in order to engage with customers.

Here is a quick list of social media marketing benefits for small businesses:

  1. Social media drives new business and increases sales –
    • According to Crowdspring, 50% of small business owners reported the gain of new customers through social media, most notably through Facebook and LinkedIn.
    • HubSpot’s State of Inbound Marketing says that, “77% of B2C and 43% of B2B companies say they’ve acquired customers through Facebook.”
  2. Social media marketing increases brand awareness –
    • “100% of business decision-makers use social media for work purposes,” according to Forrester.
    • “68% of consumers check out companies on social networking sites before buying.”
    • According to iMedia, “70% of marketers say that [social media] content marketing has increased their brand awareness.”
  3. Better customer service and relationships –
    • “52% of enterprise brands say social media is the top driver for [customer] relationship building and brand engagement.” (Spredfast)
  4. Credibility –
    • According to a Morpace Omnibus Report, “a whopping 68% of Facebook users say a recommendation from a Facebook friend would make them more likely to buy a specific product or visit a certain retailer.”
  5. Targeting –
    • Your business can use social media advertising to target by zip code, keyword, demographics, and other criteria.
    • Today you can reach just about anyone through social media. From January 2014,Pew’s Internet Projects research:
      • 71% use Facebook>/li>
      • 23% use Twitter
      • 26% use Instagram
      • 28% use Pinterest
      • 28% use LinkedIn/li>
  6. Audience ownership –
    • Why continue to rent by running newspaper and radio ads when you can buy your own highly targeted audience through social media? Sure, it takes time to build, but like any good asset, it is worth the investment.
  7. Web traffic and SEO –
    • According to iMedia, “71% say content marketing helped them improve their site’s rankings.”
    • In a local search usage study by Ballyhoo, “91% of local searches use Facebook to find local businesses online.”
  8. See what is being said about your business –
    • Use social monitoring tools and research to find out what customers are saying about your business. Successful businesses use this valuable information to enhance customer relationships and business.
  9. Competitive edge –
    • Wondering what is going on with your competition? Use social media monitoring to track competitors and avoid surprises.
  10. Better customer service –
    • According to Social Media Today, social media drives better customer relationships, bigger brand affinity, and a mechanism for instant customer feedback.
    • According to New Media & Marketing, 88% of consumers would be less likely to buy from a company with unanswered questions or complaints from customers on their Facebook page.
    • Social Media allows a business to interact with customers and potential customers.

If your business is not yet using social media to interact with customers and potential customers the time is now for you to start. Facebook has leveled the playing field in which large companies and small businesses can compete.

10 Reasons to Use Social Media for Businesses
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