When people think of social media, they think of connecting with friends, posting updates about their own lives, and of course cat pictures. All of those I have lists are great things social media can offer for the masses, however, people tend to not realize how to utilize social media in a productive way to boost their businesses. Social media can be used as a great tool for marketing and now, these are the top five benefits how social media help businesses grow.
4. Social Media is EVERYWHERE!
Well, this is obviously a no-brainer. According to the data from statistica, as of 2018, there are currently an estimate of 257.3 million smartphone users in America alone. Also, according to statistica, as of 2019, an estimate of 244 million of those users has a social media account. This includes Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, twitter, and much more. Because of this, many businesses has offered mobile-friendly applications, and created accounts of their own on these social media platform.
Users of all of these platforms don’t just share updates of their lives online, but they also search up businesses. Having a social media helps small businesses on getting found when users are searching up places to go, or to buy a certain product. In fact, Facebook, one of the most biggest social media platform with around 2.32 billion active users, small companies will have no trouble gaining huge traction on sales and their audience though Facebook alone. An example of one of many companies that is actively participating in social media is Domino’s Pizza. They set out to create their own mobile application due to this rise of active users and sales has gone up. According to a post from Allie Tetreault, 40% of Domino’s overall sales comes from desktop, mobile, and tablets alone.
3. More intimate connection with the audience
Businesses can use their social media to learn about their audience by asking about their interests and collecting their feedback. Social media is faster and less intrusive than picking up the phone and talking to a member of their audience. A great thing about this connection is that the users tend to be quite active. According to an Informate mobile intelligence report, Americans tend to check their accounts 17 times a day. So compared to a customer visiting your store for only once a week, the same customer can see your social media post multiple times a week.
2. Social Media is CHEAP!
Usually, businesses would pay a hefty sum for an advertisement on a billboard which people can see while driving to work, or a 30 second commercial advertisement that shows up during a TV show. However, it not as effective as an ad that shows up online. With millions of users clicking through websites every second, those users will see the same pop-up ad more than a lifetime compared to a billboard. This will not only give awareness of the company, but also increase profits of the business by a longshot. It is even better when a business use their social media platform to advertise their product. This is because the users that are following them are more likely to buy the products they posted. Using social marketing tactics in creating “super-fans” of the company by posting 80% fun and 20% of “buy my product” businesses can definitely benefit more from using social media as a way to market compare to other traditional methods.
1. Social Media helps get the word out.
Word of mouth is usually the way on how people find out about a company. To this day, word of mouth is still a great portion of a company’s growth. About 90% of small businesses gain new customers from word of mouth. Its just more trustworthy when your friend Billy tells you great thing about this restaurant that sells pineapple pizza with spinach, right? However, as the world is changing because of technology, so is our way of communication. So instead of people having private conversations about a company, it is done more publicly though posts, likes on Facebook, and reviews. Businesses that actively engage with their audience about their product, listening into feedbacks, will gain them the same amount of trustworthiness that they do compared to a physical recommendations.
Conclusion
So to wrap this all up, there is obviously a need in Social Media for any company, small or big. Not only should companies start their social media platform because of the profits they could be making out of it through cheap advertisement and the great ways in learning more about their audience, but it is where the future is heading towards as one day everyone on this earth will be connected or influenced through social media. All businesses should take a quick look at their own social media pages and make sure they are using their presence in the right way to capture all the great benefits social media can offer.
Cites
Tetreault, A. (2019, August 8). Why Online Ordering Software Trumps Regular Call-In Ordering. Retrieved from https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/online-ordering-software-vs-call-in-ordering.
U.S. population with a social media profile 2019. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/273476/percentage-of-us-population-with-a-social-network-profile/.
Collier, A., & Collier, A. (2019, August 5). Social Media for Business – 10 Tips to Grow. Retrieved from https://blogs.constantcontact.com/why-social-media-marketing/.
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