Digital Marketing 101: Benefits of Social Media for Your Business 

If you think your business doesn’t need social media, maybe some stats can change your mind.  

Just for some insight, on Facebook, over 60% of users follow a brand. That’s a promising number, right? Well, on Instagram, over 90% of users are following a brand’s account. 

Oh, and did we mention that Instagram has over 1 billion active monthly users? 

Let that sink in for a minute. 

Social media is absolutely crucial for any brand to be on today and is no longer optional. 

How to Use Social Media for Business

You probably think that social media is a hassle, a waste of time, or involves too much work. Or maybe you believe that even after all of your efforts, you’ll only have 50 followers and no sales. Well, we’re here to show you that social media isn’t equivalent to wasted time and to give some tips on how to grow your brand with social media! 

Be Relatable

Brands can come across as inhuman, rather than something people feel they can relate with or even talk to. However, with the use of social media, you can create a brand voice that really engages your customers. Some tips to being more relatable on social media include: 

• Showing the face behind the brand. Studies show that your engagement can increase by 38% when you show a face. Whether it’s your team, yourself, or a model posing in your store, a face will help your brand presence on social media. 
• Give a sneak peek into the “behind the scenes” of your business. This can make your audience feel like they’re getting exclusive insights no one else will see!

Use Humour (When Appropriate)

Take, for example, Wendy’s twitter. Wendy’s is a fast-food restaurant where you can get a burger, fries, and their signature Frosty. However, on social media, they’re on fire (literally, because they roast all their competitors there). 

Social media can be your brand’s creative outlet that catches the consumer off-guard but creates a memorable experience. Maybe you think your brand is boring. But is it more boring than burgers and fries? Social media allows you to create entertaining content for your audience. Use social media to craft an engaging, spunky brand voice that creates amazing content people will genuinely enjoy. 

Now you don’t have to go as extreme or harsh as Wendy’s, but just use it as an example to keep in mind how different brands utilize social media. And we understand not every brand is supposed to be humorous, such as a luxury clothing line or interior design space. For some companies, like a doctor’s office, it might not even be appropriate to have humour. However, it’s worth testing how humour performs with your brand and hopping on trending topics or memes. Social media is meant, after all, to be engaging first and foremost. 

Provide Support

Social media is a great place to provide customer service in today’s world. If a customer experiences bad customer service with a brand, it’s not uncommon for someone to post online about it.

In fact, 47% of consumers will do this. Most do it to raise awareness and let others know not to go to that company. However, there’s a saving grace, as 55% of them are doing this so the business will solve their problem. This means it’s your time to shine by responding promptly to their complaint online. Done correctly, you not only have a satisfied customer, but everyone else on social media can see your excellent customer service!

Monitor Conversations around Your Brand

What are people saying about your brand? A little social eavesdropping never hurt anyone! Are they super stoked after visiting your store? Or did they find a hair in the food you served, and they’re complaining about it? These are things you need to be listening for, and social media gives you the opportunity to do just that! 

Monitor your Competitors

Monitoring your competitors offers an abundance of advantages. When you track their social media, it can give you an idea of what their next move will be. Are they having an upcoming sale? New product line? This would be your time to go back and see what your strategy is, and how it compares. 

You can see what tactics your competitors did but weren’t successful at, to avoid any potential loss for your company. As well, what are customers wanting from their competitors but not getting? Monitoring your competitors can help you build a strong strategy for not only your social media but your business as a whole. 

Benefits of Using Social Media

Stay Top of Mind

Worried people are going to forget about your business? It’s hard to forget about a brand when you see it every day in your news feed. You don’t have to post new content every single day to achieve this. Rather, you could be liking or commenting on posts, maybe replying to a few Tweets some days. Or posting a Story on your Instagram. 

All these practices will help keep your brand top of mind for consumers without being in their face all the time. 

Create Leads and Boost Sales

Social media isn’t just there to build awareness - it can help you make sales too! For instance, take Instagram shopping, it allows consumers to tap on the product shown in your photo and be brought to the page to purchase it. Your page can also post flash sales that can only be discovered through following your brand’s account. 

Another way to boost sales through social media is by hosting giveaways and contests. To enter, users might have to be following your page, tag three friends in a comment, or share the post. This will not only promote engagement, but it also has the potential to raise your follower count and generate leads. 

However, social media is not only just for sales, but it can also give you amazing insights into leads. Have you ever seen Facebook’s analytics for business pages? The amount of insight you’ll get from having business pages on social media is not something to shrug off. 

It’s Affordable

“I don’t have money for advertising right now.” Well, that phrase can go out the window with social media! If you’re a new business, social media is a great place to start with your advertising. Creating social media accounts are free, even for business accounts.

Also, running social media accounts isn’t that hard. There are tons of tools like Hootsuite, Later, or Buffer that allow you to manage all your social media accounts on one platform. Not only that, you can schedule your posts well in advance, so you don’t have to worry about constantly posting to create consistent content. 

Some of these do come with a cost; however, it’s more affordable than a traditional advertising budget. If you’re just starting out, you can manage the accounts without these social media engagement tools (though they will make your life much easier in the long run).

Promote Engagement

What’s the point of using social media if you’re not engaging with people? The whole purpose behind social media is to get likes, gain followers, and connect with people through messages or comments. 

There are many simple ways to do this. For instance, Instagram Story provides several features like polls, “Ask me a Question,” quizzes, and so much more! All these features make it super easy to engage with your followers.

Another way is through your captions. “It’s snowing like crazy here. What’s the weather like where you are?” They don’t have to be hyper-specific or always directly related to your brand. You could also ask questions like “Can anyone guess what our next menu item will be?”

Just asking a simple question and getting people to reply in the comments is an effective way to build engagement. 

Conclusion

If this blog hasn’t convinced you that your business needs social media, who knows what will? It’s very clear that social media is relevant for any brand, and it’s not just a trend that will phase out. 

Whether it’s to build your brand presence, create leads, promote engagement, or outwit your competitors, social media has so much to offer for brands. And a lot of this is for free or at a super affordable cost for your business. In today’s age, it’s a no-brainer to have your brand on social media. Whether you’re killing it with witty tweets, have a stunning Instagram page, or offering educational posts on LinkedIn, social media is crucial for any brand.