As a business owner, you’ve perfected the art of hiring dependable staff and making your customers happy. You have a basic website, so something shows up when customers Google your business’s name, but new customers tend to find you through word-of-mouth or community connections. You might even run a few advertisements yearly in a traditional format, such as a local newspaper.

With all of this going for you, you may wonder: why should my business be on social media? Why should I invest my time (or money) into pleasing “the algorithm” and creating content?

If you’re not already a regular social media user, you may not understand how much this tool can help your company grow. In this article, we’ll lay out some of the basic benefits of using social media for your business:

• Growing your reach
• Engaging with customers
• Taking advantage of advertising opportunities
• Networking and industry research

Read on to learn more!

Growing Your Reach

With just a few clicks, social media allows you to share information about your business with a wide audience. According to Pew Research Center, 72% of U.S. adults are active on social media, and this percentage is projected to increase every year. Unlike traditional forms of mass communication like print, television, and radio, posting to social media is free and instantaneous.

By sharing content on a regular basis and using hashtags relevant to your industry, you can help your business become visible to millions of users. A consumer survey by The Harris Poll found that 55% of consumers learn about new brands through social media — your brand could be one of those new discoveries!

Customer Engagement

Once you’ve reached your audience, you can start engaging on a deeper level with those users. Features like instant messaging, comments, polls, and more make it relatively easy to personalize a customer’s experience with your page.

For example, if someone sends you a message asking a question about your products, you can respond from your phone within a quick time frame, even if you’re currently out on a job or your phone lines are busy.

In addition to connecting with potential customers, social media offers chances to engage with customers after they purchase your services. For example, Facebook offers a review feature, giving your customers a place to leave their feedback. You can then respond from your business page to thank them for taking the time to write their review.

The numbers show that this personalized engagement pays off. According to Ambassador, 71% of consumers reported they were more likely to recommend a brand to others after a positive experience on social media.

Advertising Opportunities

Once your business has an account on a social media platform, you also have access to the many opportunities for advertising on that platform. Social media advertisements can be used for building awareness of your brand, driving traffic to your website or a specific landing page, and, of course, increasing conversions or sales. 

Digital ads also offer far more targeting options than traditional advertisements. You can filter your ads to appear to people in very specific demographics, such as “within 10 miles of your business” and “between the ages of 18 and 30.” 

Interests and online activity are another way that ads can be targeted. If your company sells ski equipment, for example, you can aim your ads toward users who browse ski-related hashtags and pages.

Networking on the Net

Social media is useful for more than just interacting with customers. It can also be a great way to connect with your peers. You can join local business networking groups on Facebook or follow community pages to stay on top of events and happenings in your area.

Industry and competitor research is another clever way to use social media. By following relevant hashtags and competitors’ pages, you can keep on top of trends in your industry, see what kinds of content (including promotions and deals) companies like yours are posting, and the demographics of the users that interact with their pages. Use this information to your advantage to stand out from the rest.

Want to use social media to grow your business but don’t have the free time to dedicate to it? We understand. Get expert help from the team at Big Deal Marketing. Contact us.