​10 reasons why social media is important for your business

Get more from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest & other networks with these top tips for social media marketing
Published:
November 24, 2014

When you have a million and one things to do in the day to day running of your business, we know it can be hard to keep your social media presence up to date, check out these top 10 reasons why you should keep it on your priorities list.

1. Your customers may be waiting for you

You may think “hey my customers aren’t on social media, so why should I bother?” but this assumption is not correct. Social media is finding it’s way into the lives of the most unlikely users, as social media can serve an increasing number of needs. If a customer can’t find your business profile – they may assume you are a bit behind the times (especially important for tech companies) and you miss the opportunity of connecting with these customers and potential leads.

2. You can expand the avenues to reach new prospects

Studies have shown that it can take around 7 interactions or “touches” of a customer with your brand, before you gain a chance of converting them into a customer. Small businesses should at least have a presence on Twitter and Facebook to expand the avenues available to connect with new leads. If you sell products or services that have photos or graphics you should also consider photo based social media websites, such as Pinterest and Instagram. More than three-quarters (77%) of brand posts shared on Facebook are photos. (iMedia Connection)

3. Potential customers are tweeting and posting – try contribute to their conversations

Social media can help to drive visitors to your social media profiles and your business website, but sometimes to get better quality leads you need to go after potential customers. Use lists in Twitter to group companies of a similar theme so you can view the list and keep tabs on the conversation in that industry. Use Facebook hashtags to find trending topics in your region or industry and contribute something of value to the online conversation.

4. You can break social media down into manageable pieces

Once you have made lists of customer groups, use Hootsuite or a similar tool to monitor all your lists on a single screen to get an overview of all the industries you aim to monitor. Setup hashtag searches to search for topics that you can monitor and hopefully contribute towards.

5. You have the chance to use your pearls of wisdom

When the right moment arrives you can add a message to demonstrate your knowledge, or suggest a product or service you supply if it is of value to the online conversations. With the right timing you often suggest your own products at the exact moment a potential customer reaches out for help and advice. B2B marketers who use Twitter generate on average twice as many leads as those who don’t. (Social Media Today)

6. Customers are starting to use social search to find companies

Finding local businesses usually starts with a Google search, but younger demographics are increasingly using social searches on Facebook and Twitter, to find, follow and enquire with national and local business. The collective spending power of millennials will surpass that of Baby Boomers by 2018, and millennials will comprise 75% of the global labor force by 2025. (AllTwitter)

7. Help people remember you and your business

Even if you offer amazing products with the best customer support, many people will eventually forget about your business. By keeping your social networks up to date with at least three posts on each network per week, you can keep in touch with past and potential customers who may easily forget about you if you weren’t otherwise appearing in their social feeds. Share your news, products and popular purchases, photos and local news to add value to followers and make it easier to attract new followers. 23% of Facebook users check their account more than five times per day. (Digital Buzz Blog)

8. Customers are sharing their experiences with your business – be there to respond

A customer Experience Report annual survey conducted by Harris Interactive, found 79% of complaints via social sites received no response. This is a big opportunity for smaller businesses to use this to their advantage and learn to better manage and respond to enquiries and complaints. By being there to respond and resolve you not only demonstrate to potential customers that you are a responsive and active business, but also gain the opportunity to impress the original customer with the speed and ease of your response or resolution to their problem. And finally you will be pleased to hear studies show more than 50% of customers will continue doing business with you after the issue is addressed.

9. Customers can see you support local events

By responding to local event invitations via Facebook you will appear on more and more peoples feeds. They can see you are “attending” which shows you are a local business supporting others in the area. If you can’t attend, respond with a “Maybe next time”, or “Sorry I can’t make it!”. Tweeting about local news and events is also a great way to break down those barriers and showing your potential customers you are a person behind the company logo. The top three organisational goals for B2B content marketing are brand awareness (82% of companies); lead generation (74%); and customer acquisition (73%). The top three metrics used to measure success are website traffic (63%); sales lead quality (54%); and social media sharing (50%). (FlipCreator)

10. Not all your customers have to be new leads

By keeping in touch with customers that have used your services you are more likely to have them return to you as a customer. Stay on their radar and they will come back to you with more repeat business. SocialTimes says “Customer testimonials are the most effective form of content marketing”.

Top Tips for Local Business Outreach using Facebook: https://www.alloymarketing.co.uk/top-tips-for-local-business-outreach-using-facebook/

Top Tips for Local Business Outreach using Twitter: https://www.alloymarketing.co.uk/top-tips-for-local-business-outreach-using-twitter/

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