The Importance of a Social Media Presence

/in , , /by

For the social media skeptics out there, it may be time to reconsider your doubts. While it may have once felt impractical, these days a social media presence is almost imperative for the success of your company. In fact, 92% of marketers said that social media is important to their businesses. Social media marketing demonstrates huge opportunities to increase sales, increase brand recognition, and decrease marketing expenses. Still not convinced? We’ve compiled a list of the top business advantages of having a social media presence. 

Increased inbound traffic. Without marketing on social media, you are limiting your inbound traffic to customers you already have. Utilizing social media is one of the best ways to reach people outside of your regular circle of customers. Think about it this way: every social media platform you join is an opportunity to increase traffic to your website. Every piece of content you publish is an opportunity to gain a new customer. You want to be active and present on as many platforms as possible to allow individuals to access information about your company or product. Cater to your audiences. Older generations may turn to Facebook while twentysomethings hunt you down on an entirely different social media platform. Everyone searches for things differently, and by expanding your social media presence you’re opening your business up to a wide range of clientele.

Better search engine rankings. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the best way to use search engines to gain relevant traffic. More than 58% of marketers who have been using social media for one year or longer improved in search engine rankings. If you want to rank for a specific set of keywords, you need your name and message all over the interwebs. Having a strong social media presence is may not be a requirement for success (yet), but it definitely won’t hurt.

Higher brand authority. When a customer wants to compliment or complain about a business, they turn to social media. This is your time to shine. You want to use this opportunity to interact with your customers gracefully, whether you’re accepting a compliment or working your hardest to smooth over any issues. The ways in which you interact with your customers online will indicate to new audience members that you are consistent and authoritative, and can attract interest to your brand.

Valuable customer insights. Social listening gives you an opportunity to tune in to how your customers really feel about your product or service. What better way to understand a customer’s needs than by directly interacting with them? You can measure conversion rates based on different social media campaigns to find out what works and what doesn’t. You can monitor comments from customers and use that information to cater to what users want to see from your company. Social media marketing has functions that allow you to identify what content generates the most interest. 

This is not a high-risk playing field. Realistically, there’s nothing to lose by getting involved in social media. Signing up, creating profiles and making posts usually require minimal commitments of both time and money, compared to other forms of marketing. Another important reason to get started? Your competitors are already doing it. This means every moment you’re not involved you could potentially be losing customers to other businesses because of something as simple as a Facebook page. The sooner you begin, the sooner you’ll be reaping the rewards, so what’re you waiting for? 

Ilana Litvak
Latest posts by Ilana Litvak (see all)