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8 Reasons That Answer: Why is Social Media Important for Business?

April 20, 2013 / by Travis Martin

social mediaToday we’re going to answer the question, Why is social media important? Regardless of what industry or company you’re in, these 8 reasons will help you understand that having some sort of social media platform or engagement throughout the week is important for any business. Interacting just 2 to 3 times a week can drastically increase your chances of directing leads to your website while building valuable relationships outside the four walls of your office.

Reason 1: Social Media Is Taking Over

In the past few years social media use has been drastically increasing online and on mobile devices. Nearly 1 in every 5 minutes online is spent on social media networks today says Alex Tran at adpuclishing.org. With this amount of time being spent on social networks it makes for a great audience to publish your content to and engage with.

Reason 2: Build Relationships That Will Last

In the world of Social Media, relationships are important. Engaging with just a few people a day can do wonders for your social media presence. Getting to know people on a personal basis and interacting with them online is just like doing cold call sales offline, but when you use social media your message is more likely to travel around quicker due to instant access and sharing capabilities. Get to know your customers. Comment on some of their posts and offer them free gifts. Your goal is to build a relationship that lasts with customers.

Reason 3: Google Likes Social Media

In recent years, Google allowed live tweets from Twitter to appear in search results along with Facebook business pages and personal profiles. If you want people who are surfing the internet to find you, you need to have some type of social presence on the web. For you not to have at least a Facebook business page is absurd. Set up a Facebook page and keyword the title and description in a way that reflects the search quiries for your industry. I bet you’ll see a difference in your site traffic once you set up one of these platforms.

Reason 4: You Have A Perfect Audience To Target!

Stop making excuses. You have millions of people on Social Media networks that are perfect for targeted ads about your product or service. If you’re looking for quick leads and customers, try setting up a Facebook campaign and start targeting people with interest in your industry. Make it known that your business is at least trying to provide some type of service to people. It’s the companies that never try to branch out and get known that fall behind in the dust without a trace. Stand out and make yourself known.

Reason 5: Your Next Potential Customer Could Come From Social Media

Have you ever thought about where your customers are hanging out? Try searching for businesses in your industry on Facebook or Twitter. If these businesses have followers on these social media networks it might be a good idea to have some social presence available to the public. Don’t let your competitors beat you out in the socialsphere. Set up a Facebook and Twitter page and get social! Here are two quick tutorials to help you set up your Twitter and Facebook accounts for your business.

How To Set Up a Twitter Account

How To Set Up a Facebook Account

Reason 6: It’s Inexpensive Marketing!

What some businesses don’t realize is that social media is actually FREE! What a better way to market then on a social media network that is free to use. I have seen from personal experience that simply having a Facebook or Twitter business page you can attract hundreds if not thousands of people to your site without spending a single dollar. Your simple engagement with others on social media can build a large audience base without having to touch your wallet. Try it out – you might be amazed at how quick you can grow your audience with simple fan engagement.

Reason 7: Did You Know You Can Sell Products Through Social Media?

Something that is not talked about a lot, but can really boost your sales is integrating a virtual shop into your Facebook business page. Plug-ins are available for different types of website platforms that allow you to paste a code onto your Facebook business page allowing you to sell products straight to your fans on Facebook. This is an easy way to bring products to your customers without causing them to move very far. Check with your website service provider to see if you can embed a shop code onto your Facebook business page.

Reason 8: Social Media Is Often More Effective Than Traditional Marketing

Traditional print marketing (like newspapers and magazine ads) and advertising (like radio and TV ads) is not used like it once was, while the internet, business pages and tweets, and other social media platforms are taking over. We recently witnessed a tragedy at the Boston Marathon and within minutes thousands of tweets were composed and sent out over the twittersphere. Over 40 tweets a seconds could be seen on Twitter hash tag #BostonMarathon alone. All types of businesses from financial institutions to restaurants gave their input on sympathy for those involved in the explosions. A perk of being a part of social media mediums is the ability to be notified of news quickly.

Are You Convinced That Social Media Is Important?

Are you convinced yet? Regardless of what industry your business is in it’s important to be aware of what others are up to and where traffic on the internet is coming from. Having a social presence is a great way to connect with your customers. People like businesses that are personable and real. Become a company that engages with the world through social media. It’s the wave of now, and most likey the future.

After reading this blog, if someone asked you, why is social media important? Would you now be able to tell them?

 

Read our relates article:

Why is Social Media Important? Because Everyone’s Doing it!


Topics: Lead Generation, SEO, Social Media

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