When you consider the broad range of social networking platforms, from micro-blog sites like Twitter to industry-specific sites like FlyingSolo.com.au, the possibilities are endless.
This means that advertising through social media avenues can greatly increase your business, if used effectively. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be implementing a social media marketing plan, but there are many reasons for why you should.
Here are five ways in which social networking can assist your business.
Social networking provides a framework for global business. This means that any business, no matter how small or how local, can reach potential customers from all over the world through the World Wide Web. When you consider that Facebook alone has over one billion users, just being seen by .001% would keep any business happy looking to widen the scope of new potential customers. In reaching a wider audience globally, but still having the ability to target certain demographics, you can’t ignore the power of social media marketing as being an extremely cost effective method either.
Social profiles are a great way to connect with other business professionals. LinkedIn is one such site that boasts a membership of over 200 million people, all who are in business and interested in promoting or exposing their businesses products and services. This makes LinkedIn a highly valuable resource for up to date industry news and insights, as well as a great place to form business relationships. By engaging in relevant industry group discussions your conversations will be heard by hundreds rather than just those you sit next to at lunch. Forming and nurturing your list of business connections is no different online than it is offline – it just can be scaled bigger and be more time effective.
Social media allows you to gauge your sector of the consumer market. If you want to know what’s trending and why, then look no further than social networking sites. Even today’s news channels are using social sites as a method to finding ‘hot topics’ of discussion to follow. Social networking also allows you to size up your competition and follow what their latest activity, article focus and promotion is quickly by referencing their Facebook Page or Twitter accounts. Also, there’s no better indication of how well your business is doing than by monitoring what others have to say about you by using social marketing tools to track your brand name. This can be used as a much more natural method to getting customer feedback.
Increase your brand exposure through social networking. This one is a no-brainer. If you want people to know about your business, then you need to get your business in front of as many relevant businesses and potential customers as possible. Setting up social networking accounts is one thing, but in order to remain professional and develop a credible reputation you must integrate them with your other marketing tools such as your website, mobile apps, print material, email signatures and letterheads to spread a consistent brand message people will start to recognise. This successful marketing method will exponentially increase your customer base.
Social networking makes your business seem more personable. And personable relationships with customers equates to loyal customers. We know forming a relationship with our customers is vital in order to gain loyalty and referrals. The exciting part about building relationships within social sites is that the valuable information you share and the ‘office antics’ or milestone achievements is on view for the world to see and easier for your loyal following to refer new people to you. Additionally, when you handle customer service issues through social media, knowing the world is watching, you are proving how much customer service means to you and, in turn, attracting even more loyal customers if handled well. Social networking isn’t going away with the rapid increase of online searching and referring to friends for recommended businesses. In fact it can be invaluable when it comes to your business’ future success if the proper marketing strategy and education is put in place. A good place to start is to consider what your business needs and whether social media can assist you in those areas. It’s easier then to work out which social sites to focus on first and how to use them.
Lee is director at Buzz Web Media. Contact her at info@BuzzWebMedia.com.au
