Do you operate a small business that you would love to see grow
exponentially? Did you know that over 50% of
small business’ throughout the world confess that social media has improved
their sales? Social media is proven to have the capability impact your business
positively, also with the benefit of a relatively low marketing expense.
Social media is the correct direction to head when thinking to grow
your small business in today’s society. This is so because as a small business
your focus should be on brand awareness, increasing the traffic to your website
and truly building loyal followers for your brand.
As you continue reading this post, you will grasp a more in depth
understanding as to the major benefits social media has to offer your small
business.
What really is Social Media?
Social media is a virtual platform that creates a community for
persons to interact by sharing information and ideas.
This platform has proven to be powerful because of its ability to
connect you to individuals not only in your immediate region but throughout the
entire world.
Social media is a creative space with endless opportunities to
share and disperse information.
The Potential Impact of Social Media on Your
Small Business
The popular phrase ‘the proof is in the pudding’ is quite
descriptive of the truths that exist with the great potential of growth that awaits
with actively using social media for your small business.
The seventh annual Social Media
Marketing Industry Report exposed that 92% marketers working with small
businesses are sold on the reality that social media is a must for their
marketing efforts.
Let’s carefully examine all the ways your business will potentially
grow after integrating social media.
1. Improved
Brand Awareness: The beauty about social media is that with
every move you make to let your brand more known you are able to have a visible
track of this using the metrics provided on the platform. Therefore you will be
able to track the growth of your brand awareness by paying close attention to
the following features of social media:
·
Mentions – This feature allows you to track how
often your small business is referred to on the social media platform. This could
be through hash tags and direct mentions of your social media handle.
·
Followership – Tracking the number of followers
on your social media network is a critical aspect to showing the growth of your
business. This feature will help you to track the amount of followers you gain
over varying periods of time which help you to make your analysis of the
different methods that has been attracting persons to your small business. As
you notice the post that picks up the most traction you can develop more of these
posts and watch your business grow.
·
Reach – This feature gives you the ability to
see how many times your posts were viewed by persons on social media which can
help to inform the type of posts that are necessary for the growth of your
followers which in totality will impact the overall growth of your business
overtime.
·
Impressions – This highlights the amount of
times your post was viewed or shows up within the feed of individuals on social
media.
Knowing the above and utilizing them to their full potential are
some of the critical keys to using social media to grow your small business.
2. The
Relationship your Social Media and Website Has Developed
Social media is a great way to increase traffic to your website and
ultimately increase sales/services for your small business. With the use of
your social network you can further track what URL’s generated the most views
and exactly what post was able to give the increased attention.
3. Social
Media Builds a Community
The beauty of social media and how it will impact and grow your
business beyond what you imagined is the community it has the ability to
create. Social media is a powerful tool that when properly managed and used can
engage your customers and potential customers to feel that they are a critical
part of your business, because they feel involved and appreciated by you.
Creating this community for your customers is primarily achieved by
the quality of customer service you offer through responding to emails of
concern, replying to comments and direct messages. By using your social media
to create a family atmosphere you encourage customers to stay and for them to
recommend – and just like that your business grows.
4. Being
Active
For social media to give you the results that truly represent
growth for your business it means you have to remain active on a regular basis.
Delayed responses of over 4-12 hours can really harm your business and the
growth you desire. Try keeping your social media platforms plugged into your
smart phones that you can readily see when messages come in and even set quick
replies that will make your clients feel appreciated until you are able to
better digest and respond extensively to their messages instead of delaying it
all together.
5. Limitless
Reach
By using social media to showcase your small business you are able
to attract persons in your immediate location and far beyond your mind could
comprehend your brand touching. This is one of the greatest aspects of using
social media to grow your small business, it guarantees a wider exposure thus
the potential of sales for your business will expand.
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that building your social media will have a
positive impact on your small business. As you engage your clientele through
the use of social media, it is proven that customers feel more involved and
charged to support your business and even tell a friend to tell a friend.
Have you found the blog post helpful? Let us know in the comment section below, and share this blog post with your friends
This article was written by a guest author: Jonnelle O’Connor
