Why Social Media Is the Backbone of Business Marketing

Whether you are a small local business with a localized customer base or run a huge international company with clients from every corner of the world, the more people you can get your business in front of, the more sales you are going to make. In today’s world, there is no better way for businesses to market their products than through social media. Many people thing that social media and business marketing cannot go hand-in-hand, but they are wrong!

Everything about your business marketing strategies boil down to one simple fact: the more people you can get your brand in front of, the better the advantage you’ll have against your competition. And having a social media presence definitely adds brings onboard numerous advantages that you would not want to lose out on.

Social media platforms are a great way for your business to connect with customers and thus increase its brand awareness and eventually boost sales. With an estimated 3 billion people using various social media platforms every month, you can be certain that this is not a passing trend, and therefore one you cannot afford to ignore.

Yes, you might be wondering ‘How do I even start?’ Well, it is truly easier than you think. You do not need to know everything from the onset. That means that you can actually get started on your company’s social media presence right now. You might even find yourself enjoying the process once you get the hang of it.

In this article, we are going to explain 6 reasons why social media is really the backbone of business marketing in the world we live in today. Hopefully, these will help understand why it is of paramount importance for you to start on your social media profiles right away. If you already have social media profiles for your business, still read on to understand how you are benefiting, and how you can add value to what you already have.

1. Builds Brand Awareness

Businesses operate on one simple principle: if they don’t know about your business, they cannot be your customers. While you may not necessarily make any sales via social media, it will still boost your visibility and make your brand known by potential customers. Considering the number of social media users, you will be able to reach a much wider audience without using a lot of time or resources.

Additionally, almost all social media platforms do not charge a thing for you to create a business profile, meaning you really don’t have anything to lose.

To help you get the best brand awareness, start by defining exactly what you would like to get out of your social media marketing strategies. This could be anything from making more people know about the services or products you offer to bringing more people into your local (or online) stores. Having a clear objective of what you want to achieve will be a great help in selecting which social media platforms are best suited for your business.

2. Communicates Authority

Customers are becoming increasingly better at discerning authentic businesses that they will support. Advancement in technology has made it possible for them to do a quick search to browse your social media profiles or website before actually buying.

This begs the question, what will they find? Will they find a source rich with helpful information about your business, or bits and pieces that will make them suspicious or even skeptical? Setting up and frequently updating your social profiles with relevant content not only builds trust, but also gives your brand an authority in its niche by making it trustworthy and approachable.

A great way of demonstrating your expertise in your industry and building confidence in potential customers is writing pieces that are related to your niche, and also constantly expanding your company’s mission.

3. Shows Brand Authenticity

People primarily use social media pages to catch up, share, and meet new people. Generally, it is a lively place for people to socialize, and that’s where the name Social Media came from. Publishing dry ‘official’ posts will therefore not make people interested in you. Instead, let your brand’s personality shine. That is the place to let people ‘hear’ your brand voice.

Sometimes using a friendly tone for your business may not feel exactly right, but trust us, that is just what you need to do – no matter how serious or official your business may be. Try be casual, friendly, or even funny through your posts, and you’ll find that it will be easier to connect with people. Your followers want to see people behind your brand, so give that to them.

4. Encourages Customer Engagement

There is literally no better way to constantly get your customers and followers engaged in your brand than with social media. With the ever-evolving social channels, you get new features to better engage your users with.

However, the rapidly changing environment and additional features could be a little intimidating for business owners. When you find that happening to you, remind yourself that you do not have to do everything, or make use of every new feature that is rolled out. Just pick a new way to connect with your audience, and give yourself some time to learn as you go.

You can also vary platforms you use to connect with your customers as you learn what their preferences are. For example, you could use Instagram to post a series of Instagram stories today, and host a Q&A session via Facebook Live tomorrow. This way, you get to keep followers on different platforms constantly engaged and in the loop about your company and brand.

5. Makes it Easy to Provide Support

Social sharing platforms have successfully bridged the disconnect between companies and their customers. Gone are the days when the only way to get help was by calling or writing an email. Now, more and more companies offer support to their customers via social media. In fact, it has become so common that people will almost automatically shoot support a message via Facebook or Twitter any time they have an issue.

It therefore follows that to build a reputation as a responsive and customer friendly brand, you need to offer customer support through social media channels. To do this, do your best to respond to queries as quickly as possible, and always go out of your way to be positive and helpful even when the customer is ranting and raving.

You will also need to calmly take criticism – whether positive or negative – and make your customers feel heard and understood. Sometimes you’ll even need to discern when to resolve public complaints privately.

Finally, creating a system for tracking comments, complaints, and questions on social media will help you understand the most common issues customers experience, thus better enabling you to anticipate issues before they arise.

6. Helps You Grow Affordably

Marketing a brand will most probably require huge budgets that not every business can afford. But this does not mean that you can not still get your business known. Social media advertising is a great way of getting great value for your dollar regardless of the size of your budget. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram are great for growing your audience even with limited resources.

When creating an ad campaign, know your objectives and also who your target audience is. That way, you will avoid wasting valuable resources on meaningless adverts. Also, while having a sales-oriented call to action is good, avoid ads that are overly salesy. Instead, go for ads that educate and entertains, and maybe include a catchy call to action. Doing this creates interest in your brand, and in the long run, that is better than making a quick sale right now.

We hope that these few tips will get you excited about beginning your social media business marketing. So, take a step and create your business profile. You can learn the ropes as you go. You can also get Facebook likes, twitter likes, or even followers to give your brand a much-needed boost as you get started. Have a look at our catalog and see the goodies we have on offer!