From Discovering Important Information to Finding New Customers
With more than 3.5 billion people
on social media, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who is not actively
engaging on one or more of the well-known platforms. Best of all, social media isn’t just for
personal use—there are many great advantages to using social media for
business.
Uncover Key Insights
With social
media, integrated marketers get an unvarnished look at the types of
conversations audiences are having about the products they love, the services
they are searching for, and the situations where they have been disappointed or
are especially happy with you or your competition. By interacting directly with
customers, you can find out what makes them tick, what topics get them talking,
and ensure that there are no red flags that you need to handle.
Improve Customer Service
Consumers use social media to ask
questions or address concerns, opening the door to two-way conversations with
businesses. This allows you to provide fast, effective solutions to customer
issues, serve your audience, and get their feedback. Harvard
Business Review research found that customers that receive responses from a
business via social media are more willing to spend more with those companies,
even if the initial outreach was a complaint. Social media is also the perfect
venue for reaching younger audiences for whom social media is a natural
extension of their communication preferences.
Outperform Your Competition
When you are active on social
media, you can see what your competition is doing. You can deduce their
strategy, check out what they are promoting, and let your shared audience know
that you are open to working with them and serving their needs. Your social
media interaction may be the ideal way to introduce your business to a whole
new audience, possibly converting browsers to customers.
Reach Younger Audiences
Millennial and Gen Z customers are
digital natives, making them far less responsive to traditional advertising and
outreach. They are constantly trying new platforms and channels, so as long as
integrated marketers are willing to keep testing out these places for engaging
with customers, they will be able to remain relevant. Younger audiences are
particularly interested in user-generated content, influencer reactions, and
any other stories or content that is authentic.
Grow Your Business
Social media is a great way to drive
traffic to company websites; by sharing content that is relevant to your
audience, you will encourage people to visit your site to learn more about your
products and services. Posting and interacting on social media is also a
terrific way to keep your followers and visitors informed about upcoming sales,
events, giveaways, or launches. Posting regularly will help you to increase
your audience size and increase your chances of turning visitors into
customers.
Conclusion
If your business isn’t yet utilizing
social media, you’re missing out. The benefits of using it are countless, going
far beyond what has been covered here. Nearly half of
the world’s population is on social media, giving you access to a wide range of
potential new customers. According to
Facebook, 60% of Instagram users reported discovering new products on the
platform—and you could enjoy that same kind of success. Now’s the time to see
what social media can do for your business.