Why Social Media Is Important For Your Business

Social networks are now a critical part of every marketing strategy, and the benefits of using social media are so great that anyone not implementing this resource is missing out on a huge opportunity to reach a bigger audience and make a greater impact.

By spending as little as six hours per week, 66% of marketers see lead generation benefits with social media. Even so, some people still dig in their heels and ask, do I really need social media marketing? Yes you do — and here are some of the biggest reasons why:

Increased brand recognition: Social media helps boost your business’ visibility and helps position you as a thought leader in your industry. It also gives you a way to connect with your target market and continually share your content with them. In today's world, customers expect a business to be easily accessible and recognizable online. Increased brand awareness can not only help you generate more business, but also create a better and bigger name for yourself.

Improved customer service: Many of today’s customers use social media as their first method for seeking assistance, providing feedback, or asking questions about a product or service. Your business will miss those conversations—and chances to solve problems—if you’re not on social media. Further, when a customer provides a positive review of your product or service, you then have an opportunity to share it to your followers.

More Inbound Traffic: Without Social Media Marketing, your inbound traffic is limited to your usual customers. Every social media profile you have is also a gateway to your website, and every time you post it provides another opportunity to gain a new customer. Social media is ground for so many different types of people. Without a thoughtful and strategic social media marketing plan, you’ll have a much harder time reaching anyone outside of your circle of loyal customers.
Improved SEO: If your website isn’t ranked towards the top of search engine results, you should probably consider adjusting your SEO strategy - and social media channels is a great place to start. To increase your SEO using social media, you will need to create high quality posts that use your targeted keywords frequently. Posting engaging content with unique infographics and other forms of multimedia tend to gain the most traction and give your business more credibility. Further, you can use social media to build relationships with key influencers in your particular industry. These influencers could then write about your brand – and provide links back, which will help to increase search engine rankings.
Cost-Effective: Social media marketing is possibly the most cost-efficient advertising method out there. Creating a profile is free on almost all social platforms, and any additional pay-per-click campaigns you choose to invest in are typically low cost compared to other marketing methods. Since social media marketing is so cost-effective, you can see a greater return on your investment and use more of your budget on other marketing initiatives or business expenses.