15 Oct Social Media Can Grow Your Business
In the past ten years, social media has become an essential component of modern-day business. As of July 2021, there are over 4.48 billion people who are social media users, and this number increases daily. Social media is free to access, relatively user-friendly, and a highly effective way of reaching and engaging with your audience. A few of the best social media platforms for businesses include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, but this may vary depending on your target demographic and the type of product or service you provide. Read on for five effective ways social media can help grow your business.
1. Reach New Customers
One of the best ways social media can help grow your business is by reaching new customers. Through social media, your posts can be seen and shared not only with your immediate followers, but also with their friends, family, and other online contacts. This can potentially expand the reach of your content far more than traditional advertising could. To engage with your audience and bring in new followers, try fun contests like giveaways and photo caption competitions, or have followers submit content related to your business like pictures of them enjoying your products. Content that is relevant and interesting, and gives followers a personal glimpse into your business, can create a strong sense of relationship with your audience.
2. Easily Communicate with Followers
Social media platforms allow for convenient communication between business and customer. Instead of leaving you voicemails, customers can DM your business profile on Instagram, comment on a LinkedIn post, or send a note through Facebook Messenger. They can also like and comment on your posts, providing valuable feedback and insight into your customers’ interests. You can learn more about your audience demographic by looking at who is following you and why they are interested in your company. Additionally, social media can help grow your business by alerting followers of sales, a change of address or seasonal store hours, and newly released products.
3. Create Low-Cost Advertising
While television, radio, and billboards still have an important place in a marketing budget, social media is one of the most cost-effective platforms for reaching your audience. You can use virtually all channels for free, and choose if you want to pay for advanced settings like targeted advertising for growing your business. Social media is also an amazing opportunity to showcase your products or services. For example, if you are the proprietor of a seafood restaurant, you could post an Instagram Live of the day’s “fresh catch” to entice customers into coming in for dinner that night. Tag other relevant accounts in your posts and stories and connect with them so that their followers have a chance of learning about your business.
4. Develop Brand Awareness
Effective social media use is a powerful tool for creating brand recognition. Make sure to include a link to your website that is easy to find to help drive traffic from social media directly to your site. Search engine optimization, or SEO, uses content on your website or posts to generate organic search engine results. When a potential lead looks up a product, service, or topic they are interested in, they are more likely to click and engage in businesses that are at the top of the search page. Keyword repetition is one simple method of boosting your website on search results. For example, if you repeat the phrase “Charleston oyster restaurant” often in your blogs, social posts, and website copy, you have a better chance of appearing on search engine results when someone looks up “best places for oysters in Charleston.” Just make sure that keywords make sense within the rest of your content- randomly placing words or phrases won’t help your SEO or your online customer retention.
5. Become an Industry Expert
Social media and company websites provide a tremendous opportunity for maximizing your business conversions. Becoming an “industry expert” is an excellent way to generate new leads and grow your business. Blogs, informative posts, and Facebook/LinkedIn articles can help establish you as an “authority” on the products your business sells or services it provides. In the restaurant example, blogs and social media posts about “how to eat oysters safely” or “sustainable seafood sourcing” assures customers that your business understands how to properly prepare and serve raw seafood. The more content you share that portrays you as a reliable and trustworthy source, the more likely it is that followers will visit your pages and recommend you to their friends. This will help grow your business through higher search rankings and larger follower counts on social media.
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Social media is a great way to help grow your business, and it starts in a beautiful, newly renovated office. Schedule a tour today of Tanglewood West, a destination for premier, customizable business space in scenic Roanoke, VA.