7 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs to be on Social Media

Social media isn’t going anywhere. Currently, there are more than 3 billion social media users spread all over the internet. Some of the major platforms include LinkedIn, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Also, that 3 billion number is growing each year rapidly by 13%. The pandemic has only accelerated the trend.

A social media marketing strategy will give your brand another way to reach out to customers and build a better connection with them. If you haven’t yet connected with your target audience on social media, the chances are that your competition already has. There are over 50 million small businesses that are also present on social media.

Do you still have any doubts about social media marketing? If so, this blog post is for you – we will go over the seven reasons why it’s the best marketing strategy for small businesses.

If you’re also trying to find a digital marketing agency that can handle your social media marketing, contact Salt Rank today!

1. Social Media Marketing is the Best Customer Service

Social media is very effective for responding to customers’ complaints quickly and efficiently. 67% of customers currently use Twitter and Facebook to try and solve problems with their purchases, according to Social Media Today. Being present on social media is a cheap and effective way to respond to these kinds of complaints. It will also give you the power to do it in real-time, thus lowering the probability of negative sentiment spreading about your brand online. If you “save” these customers, they might even be more loyal to you in the future compared to customers that never submitted complaints.

2. One of the Best Ways to Build Brand Awareness

Currently, something that a customer usually does first is research online before purchasing something. So if your business doesn’t have a presence on social media, you will limit your opportunities to build brand awareness when your target audience is at the crucial decision-making stage. That’s why when your business is present on social media, you will signal that your brand is reliable and worth doing business with. 

3. Online Communities Raise Your Value

When you have your own online communities surrounding your brand, Google will know that you are a business that offers something valuable to people, which will raise your value in search engines. Besides the ranking potential this offers, just having profiles on several major social media websites (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook) will give you higher ranking potential. This includes potentially ranking better for your brand name and keywords. A great way to drive more customers towards your brand is by incorporating social media marketing into your SEO strategy. A solid SEO strategy reinforced with social media marketing can generate around $2.75 for each dollar spent.

4. Social Media Marketing is Cost-Effective

There’s no need for complex or expensive advertising strategies to create awareness around your brand. The fact is that the cost can be as low as $1 per 1000 impressions on websites like Twitter or Facebook. This means that your company can reach many people without spending that much money. While it sounds simple, just putting any old ad up won’t give you the results you’re hoping for. You must develop a clever strategy (ideally with the help of a digital marketing agency) to maximize the effectiveness of your ad.

5. Social Media is Multipurpose

Each interaction that you have with potential or current customers is an opportunity (or touchpoint) to fulfill their needs with your services or products. For instance, let’s say that you shared a link for your brand new product on your Facebook branding page. In that case, each new click is basically a chance for somebody to check out what you offer and become a potential buyer. The more that you post to social media, the more potential sales you can get. 

The effort required to do this is minimal compared to the amazing results that you can get. Besides, engagement from your followers is a bonus that comes in addition to what normally comes from sharing a piece of content. More engagement means more conversions for your brand. Social media is a means of communication with potentially interested buyers, and it’s also an easy way to help them out and encourage them to buy from you.

6. Social Media Takes Word of Mouth to the Next Level

Nothing beats word of mouth for improving your brand’s image. And, thanks to social media, you can harness this technique to its full potential. Each positive review made about your business means that your business gets exposed to different networks of people, drastically increasing your brand’s potential reach. So, social media can widen your target market far and wide beyond where you currently live, which opens the door for likes, shares, and followers from all around the globe.

7. Retain Your Customers Easier

A major benefit of social media marketing is that it will allow you to keep your customers delighted and entertained. After a customer buys your product or service, your social media can help to keep them continually engaged. Each post you do on social media will remind customers that your business still exists. These posts will also refresh their mind about the positive experiences that they had with your business. This makes it more likely that they will buy from you in the future, thus helping to build their loyalty to your brand.

How to Start Growing A Following on Social Media

Now that you know why it’s beneficial to have a social media marketing strategy, you might wonder where to begin. Unfortunately, gaining a big following on social media isn’t instant. Still, there are ways that you can start seeing some fantastic results right away!

After you’ve begun to launch your social media strategy (ideally with the help of a digital marketing agency), you can help kickstart things by doing a social media giveaway. It could be a gift card for an online store or a coupon for free services. This is a simple way to get more followers on social media.