Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Oh my!! We know how overwhelming social media can seem. We are here to give you the skinny on why social media platforms are important and necessary for doing business in this day in age.
Many years ago, most businesses relied on door-to-door marketing and were promoted via good ole’ word of mouth. In the 21st century, a new, cost effective marketing strategy enters the business arena. You guessed it. Social media. In the last decade, we have seen a surge in the both the number and popularity of social media platforms. The definition of Social media according to Oxford dictionary is as follows: “Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.” Social media is a web based approach to marketing utilized to help you to promote your services and increase your visibility online. Increasing your online presence is no longer a ‘trend’, but rather it has proven to be one of the best and the most cost effective way to promote your small business.
Does my business really have to be “social”?
Yes. It sure does. The statistics are out there and they are telling us that your customers are online. Failure to have an online presence with could result in lost revenue. While you were debating putting up a twitter page, your customer just found someone else who was and gave them their business instead. Let’s look at some statistics.
- Facebook has over 1.19 billion users monthly and 728 million daily
- As of May 2013, according to Pew Research Center , 72% of adults use social networking sites
- LinkedIn saw a 105% growth from 2001 to 2013
- Twitter has 316 million active monthly users with 500 million tweets being sent a day
As the statistics above clearly scream…people are using social media! Potential customers are online checking your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. Your social media presence may not only drive sales but it validates your credibility and reputation as well. In case the aforementioned statistics have not convinced you to fire off a tweet, Nielsen noted that in terms of how much individuals trust advertising, 70% of people trust online customer reviews. This was higher than any other form of marketing efforts such as ads, newspapers, or billboards. Social media is an extension of your brand and your reputation. It can be a great mechanism to foster and nurture customer relationships. Convinced yet?
Would should I do first?
Assuming we have you on board with this social media thing, your first question is, “where the heck do I start?” Great question. The first step is developing a strategy. Here are some basic first steps:
- Align your target market with the proper platform. Click here for a chart of the various demographics for each social media platform.
- Determine what social media site meets your business needs (i.e. Instagram might work for a photographer but for an accountant, not so much.)
- Determine what you hope to achieve through social media (i.e. driving website traffic, brand awareness, create credibility)
Moz has a great beginner’s guide to social media that we suggest you take a peek at. Once you’ve done your homework on the various platforms, make sure to contact your favorite web design and development company (wink) to have your social media sites linked to your current website. Tweet on…
