Social media is only increasing in popularity over the years, which creates a reliable opportunity that can be rewarding with the right strategies and tools. More than half the world is using the Internet at this very moment, so it is no surprise that social media has become the perfect platform to market your business. 

Small businesses can significantly benefit from social media marketing since the playing field is more even for competition. Of course, large brands have a bigger budget, and that gives them a significant advantage. Still, small businesses can organically reach out to new customers, expand their business and boost their sales successfully. Let’s delve further into how small businesses can benefit from social media marketing and why they need it.

• Grow Your Business

Social media is an easy-to-use platform, and with a few simple tricks, you can boost your business effortlessly. As one of the top ways to convert prospects, it is no surprise that social media marketing is one of the essential aspects of business marketing.

• Analyze Your Target Audience

Every business needs to know its target audience to implement its marketing strategies successfully. Social listening through monitoring relevant hashtags can help you identify your target audience. You can get insights into customer behaviour by reading their posts, shares and likes. 

• Connect with Your Customers

Social media platforms provide an opportunity to build genuine relationships with your customers. Being relatable through your content is one of the best ways to make strong connections with your audience. Of course, there are guidelines to be followed, but by following social media etiquette and providing relevant content, your audience can enjoy your presence rather than just acknowledging its existence. 

• Drive Targeted Traffic to Your Website

By using social media channels to promote your content, you can drive targeted traffic to your website. Posting engaging, easy-to-share content when your audience is most active will help increase click-through rates without spending a buck for paid social advertisements.

• Build Brand Awareness

Humans love to socialize, so you can effectively snag their attention by posting interactive, engaging content that they can’t resist. Contests, quizzes, polls- anything that offers free rewards or makes them feel valued can increase engagement when they reciprocate your attention. Showing rather than telling is another way to raise brand awareness by providing social proof and demonstrating product features. 

• Improve Brand Loyalty

One of the obvious ways to build brand loyalty is to deliver on your promises and deliver them well. Your products and services need to be of the highest quality and should remain so consistently. Focus on customer satisfaction and frequently communicate to improve their experience with your brand. 

• Create Brand Authority

To build trust among your customers, they need to see your brand as an expert in its subject matter. Relevant blog content that compels your audience to visit your site and seek it as a source is one of the starting points. You can highlight your expertise by displaying awards, showing social proof and also sharing your knowledge through quality content on social media channels.

• Demonstrate Customer Service Experience

All eyes are on you when you are present on any social media platform. It provides an excellent opportunity to address grievances and concerns directly with your customer in public view. You can also share customer’s positive experiences with the rest of your followers.

• Key to Superb Customer Service

Social media is more than just a marketing tool; it allows you to demonstrate good customer service. Do it right, and your loyal client base will speak on your behalf if someone has something negative to say.

• Gain Valuable Customer Insights 

Using social listening, you can find hashtags and groups relevant to your brand and read the chatter to glean valuable customer information. You can learn about their likes, dislikes, influencers they follow, posts they like, their online behavior can tell you a lot about their preferences. This can help you run a more effective and efficient marketing campaign.

• Start Social Media Campaigns

Social media campaigns are different from your regular social media efforts. They are specifically designed to increase ROI and target the right audience to focus their efforts on them. Clicks, likes and shares are analytics that can help measure the success of your social media marketing campaigns.

• Keep up with the Competition

Social media is a crowded, competitive world, and 91% of retail brands use at least two social media platforms. You might think that there’s no way you can keep up with your competitors or be noticed by your audience. It’s easier than you think because most brands aren’t doing it right. While big brands have refined social media presence, SME’s rarely invest in social media marketing, and it shows in their results and dwindling efforts.

• Newsjacking Boosts Your Social Presence

Any buzz or chatter around a popular discussion is an entryway for brands to showcase their expertise and introduce their presence. Your brand might get mentioned on a TV show or get tagged by an influencer. Sometimes a trendy meme or cultural phenomenon might fit perfectly with your branding. That’s time to grab the opportunity; when you already have their attention, it’s easier to get your voice out there.

• Decreased Marketing Costs

Cost is one of the primary factors that decide marketing strategies, and social media marketing is relatively cheaper than traditional marketing methods. Print and conventional forms of visual media are often expensive and don’t reach a broad audience either. Social media has a more significant impact because it is available 24*7 and can reach out to almost everyone on the platform. According to Hubspot, 84% of marketers found that even only six hours of effort per week is enough to generate increased traffic.

Keep in mind that these are just the top reasons why you should start investing in social media marketing and how it can be rewarding for your business. While it might seem easy, there’s a lot that goes into building these strategies. So, if you are looking for a creative agency with the right expertise that you can trust to aid your marketing efforts, you can get in touch with us.