Why small businesses should invest in social media
Getting ahead online, driving sales, and earning loyal, money-spending followers are tough tasks to accomplish in today’s competitive online market. Sometimes it seems like there is just so much to do and when you finally feel like you have a grip on the latest marketing techniques and avenues to throw your money at, everything in the digital marketing industry changes. Sound familiar? If so, it’s time to think about online marketing opportunities that work specifically for small businesses and are “timeless”. And this brings us to the topic of Social Media Marketing and why so many businesses nowadays are seeking out business loans specifically to cater to it.
The misconception that social media marketing is for big business only
Are you aware of the power of social media marketing? If you aren’t, or if you are sceptical of its so called “power”, you are not alone. In fact, many small business owners mistakenly believe that social media marketing is a game, only to be played by big brands and market dominators. This line of thinking usually comes down to money/cost. As a small business owner, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about where to put your money. When it comes to digital marketing, it can be difficult to ascertain which areas to focus on. If you take a look at what big businesses are doing, you will notice that they spend a lot of time focusing on social media and that’s not specifically because they have the budget for extensive advertising (which they do). It’s more because Social Media Marketing – when done right – works. It’s that simple.
Why social media? I’ll give you four reasons
If you are like other small business owners who fear wasting money with a failed social media campaign, don’t worry – there’s good news. There are several ways in which your small business can benefit from investing in social media and each of these is listed below:
- Social media platforms are where your customers spend most of their time.
Yup, it’s true. If you want to find your existing customers and thousands of new ones, social media platforms are the place to do it. Over 3.8 billion people log onto the internet daily. And according to a report by The London School of Economics and Political Science there are 2.89 billion active social media users in the world today. Just think about that for a minute. That’s a huge audience and it’s there for the taking. Of course, your competitors also know this gem of information (as well as big brands too), so it is important to ensure that your social media pages are aimed at a niche market. - Consumers love to share content with family, friends, colleagues, and even complete strangers.
The thing about social media is that the content is highly shareable. A consumer can see an interesting post, or an advert for a sale, on social media and share it instantly. And the way in which content can be shared is extensive. Take for instance an advert for organic vegetables on Facebook posted by a small business owner. This post can be shared to other Facebook pages, friends, in private messages, and externally too (to email addresses, WhatsApp contacts, and more). Of course, the trick is to create the type of content that people want to share – and you don’t even have to pay for that unless you opt for paid advert plans. - Posting regularly on social media increases brand recognition.
Growing brand recognition is not particularly easy these days. Repetitive advertising is what helps a consumer remember a brand, but it’s not easy to achieve, especially with so much competition out there and without bombarding your target audience with advertising. Of course you don’t want to annoy your target audience by overdoing it. A great way to naturally increase brand awareness is to post funny, interesting and helpful content on social media, while avoiding direct marketing of products and services. The more you do this, the more consumers will start to actually notice your posts and branding, as well as view you as an expert or leader in your industry. - Social media helps market but SEO helps generate potential customers.
Once your brand recognition increases, the number of visitors to your site will also increase. The traffic on your website alone cannot be maintained by social media as when people search for anything on social media they get notified by various other competitors for the same service as well. It is common practice that when a person needs assistance, they mainly turn to search engines for solutions. This is where your website and its rank plays a prominent role, because if it’s not at the top of their search, then you are losing potential clients. You need to find trusted SEO partners like enterprise search engine optimisation who, unlike other SEO companies, don’t just specialise in one, but six key areas in SEO to provide your business website with high traffic for your service. - Consumers are more receptive on social media.
We all know the plight of the telemarketer, don’t we? No one likes to get unsolicited calls and spans of emails. However, social media seems to be a completely different ball game. It’s a fact that while consumers generally detest repetitive advertising nowadays, they are far more open to it when they see it on a social media platform. Forbes released an article that stated “Users are more likely to check out a brand if it doesn’t interrupt their experience. Advertising shouldn’t interrupt; it should integrate and become a part of the experience”, so you need to ensure that your adverts/social media posts are integrated and seamless.
Last word
As a small business owner, deciding where your money should be spent is tough, but it should be an easy decision to make when it comes to social media marketing investment. Even a small business loan can provide you with extra capital needed to expand your social media investment. There’s a reason why big brands take advantage of it. While it’s not a great idea to simply mimic what big brands are doing, there’s real value in using social media to boost online recognition and sales.